THE EDUCATIONAL POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: A HISTORICAL RETROSPECTIVE OF DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of Russia's educational policy in historical retrospect, viewed through the prism of the evolution of political and administrative models of public administration. The study covers three key historical periods: Imperial (XVIII – early XX centuries), Soviet (1917-1991) and post-Soviet (from 1991 to the present). It is shown how the change of dominant management models – from the patriarchal-bureaucratic in the imperial period through the totally centralized in the Soviet era to the strategically centralized in modern Russia - determined the change in goals, priorities and tools of state educational policy. A stable correlation between the nature of the political and administrative model and the dominant directions of educational reforms has been identified and substantiated. The methodological basis of the research combines institutional and comparative historical approaches with an analysis of the regulatory framework. Special attention is paid to continuity and gaps in management practices at the junction of historical eras. The results obtained allow us to reinterpret the evolution of the Russian education system as a significant indicator of the political and managerial dynamics of the Russian state, and also suggest a new approach to analyzing modern educational reforms.