4. ACTIVE SOCIAL POLICY
The most important condition for achieving stability and balance of economic transformation, the irreversibility of democratic processes, save Russia as a state is a fundamental reduction of social, economic and regional inequalities in Russia has reached critical proportions. Creating a society of equal opportunity is impossible without the total elimination of worst forms of poverty, the radical reduction of poverty, to overcome a high degree of marginalization of society, creating conditions for social inclusion of citizens.
The most striking evidence of increasing social degradation in our country is catastrophic demographic situation. The infamous "Russian cross" - the excess of deaths over births - shows that without an active social policy, Russia has no future.
An active social policy should give impetus to the growth of effective demand, encourage the expansion of the domestic market, improve the structure of consumption. You must change the state's attitude to the social sphere. It is not only costly, useless and cumbersome - with tools such as incomes policy or the creation of safe working conditions are at the crossroads of social and economic policies. The main provision of the proposed "APPLE" social strategy is that by using the tools of social policy can solve economic problems, and vice versa.
Yabloko was in favor of formation in our country the social market economy, European style, which involves filling the real meaning enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian welfare state and providing such State equal opportunity for all its citizens. We find it unacceptable proposed by the Government, stated in the "Development Strategy of Russia until 2010" transition to the so-called "subsidiarity" state "that will" provide social assistance only to the most vulnerable populations. "And the rest of the citizens, according to Strategy," will have themselves to pay all costs for housing and communal services, obtaining education, as well as a significant portion of the cost of medical care, schooling, pension insurance.
Yabloko believes that the reduction of social policy to government handouts to the poor is extremely dangerous for Russia with its special problems and historical traditions, and completely contrary to international trends, proving that the success stories of the country in which economic progress has kept pace with the social. Therefore, any speculation about the transition to the "subsidiarity state," existing in the West only in the concepts of marginal theorists should stop immediately.
The principle of the welfare state enshrined in Article 7 of the Constitution of Russia, it is necessary not only to give real content, but also to deepen and develop it. Need to be recorded in the European Social Charter on social rights and guarantees enjoyed by the inhabitants of Western Europe, extended to the Russian citizens.
The state of this type is based on the following principles:
responsibility, which means strict compliance with the state's social obligations - the authorities should consistently be responsible for its commitments and not abandon them or revise the following short-term political and economic conjuncture;
orientation of social reforms to improve the situation of the majority of the population;
validity, implying that the payoff of some social groups or individuals should not be achieved due to losses of others;
universality, suggesting that social policy is not limited to social assistance and is intended not only to low-income, disabled and elderly, but the majority of citizens through a comprehensive incomes policy, employment policy and the development of effective systems of compulsory retirement, medical and social insurance;
national unity, indicating that the social benefits and services should be available equally to all citizens, regardless of region and place of residence, and social spending - not dumped mechanically to regional and local budgets;
accessibility, which means that basic social services should be free, the majority of services - available, and only certain types of additional services - available through the payment of citizens;
solidarity as the most important and oldest principle of any human community, which means mutual support and mutual responsibility, that is society's responsibility to its vulnerable citizens.
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