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Aim. To assess the dynamics of the role and place of the parliament institution in the political system of modern Russia.Methodology. The main provisions of the amendments of the Constitution of the Russian Federation regarding the powers of the highest authorities are analyzed. The determination of the political significance of the post-Soviet parliament was assessed by index analysis of the dynamics of the full powers of the Federal Assembly chambers in the period from 1993 to the present day, taking into account the constitutional transformations of 2008, 2014 and 2020. The full powers of the parliament in these periods are compared to the indices of the functions of the head of state according to the method improved by the author to determine the form of government of O. I. Zaznayev.Results. It has been established that the total index of full powers of both chambers of parliament is significantly less than the presidential one, which clearly demonstrates the subordinate role of parliament in the system of public authority in post-Soviet Russia.Research implications. Measures are suggested to optimize the identified imbalance in the system of separation of powers in modern Russia, aimed at increasing the political significance of the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The article analyzes the election programs of eight candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation in the election campaign of 2018. The programmes were compared according to three criteria: proposed measures in the field of public administration and improvement of the political system, socio-economic policy, foreign policy and international relations. Both the general postulates and fundamental differences in the election programs were identified. Using content analysis, the shares of politsentrichna, socio-economicinterest and interest in foreign policy in each of the programs were singled out. Having considered the results of sociological surveys of Russians, the author also concludes that the majority of voters, participating in the presidential elections, is not acquainted enough with the election programs of candidates and is guided by the voting on the personal qualities of candidates for the presidency.

Aim. To characterize and analyze the 1996- 2020 constitutional amendments, which affected the organization and functioning of the highest bodies of state power, local self-government and the federal structure of the country.Methodology. A comparison of the constitutional process in Russia and the countries of the near and far abroad is made; a political and legal analysis of the process of making changes to the Constitution of Russia in concrete historical conditions and development is carried out.Results. The author offers the following periodization of the constitutional transformations stages: stage 1 (1996 - 2008) - “renovation of the facade”, during which the names of the subjects of the Federation were changed in the Basic Law; stage 2 (2008 - 2019) - “strengthening of the foundations” - amendments aimed at strengthening the power vertical and the institutional design of the highest state authorities in the country; stage 3 (from 2020) - “redevelopment of the building” - a significant transformation of the Russian political system, strengthening of presidential power, unification under the definition of “public power” of its three levels - federal, regional and municipal.Research implications. The author’s approach is formulated in the article, which consists in highlighting the stages of constitutional reforms in Russia aimed at modifying the political system of society.

Blockchain technology is analyzed in various spheres: power-managing activities, banking sector of the economy, health care and logistics. It is supposed that the application of this technology in the election campaigns of municipal, regional and federal levels will make the struggle with electoral absenteeism more effective. Besides it will boost the electorate attendance regardless of the level of elections, thus making the electoral process more transparent. On the example of Sierra Leone, where the presidential elections of 2018 were held with the use of blockchain technology for the first time in the history, the merits of this system are demonstrated. Both positive and negative aspects of this system application are identified.

Transparent glass-ceramics with a Li2O–Al2O3–SiO2 (LAS) system have been extensively utilized in optical systems in which thermal stability is of utmost importance. This study is aimed to develop thermal treatment routes that can effectively control the structure of transparent LAS glass-ceramics and tune its thermal expansion coefficient within a wide range for novel applications in photonics and integrated optics. The optimal conditions for the nucleation and crystallization of LAS glass were determined by means of differential scanning calorimetry and a polythermal analysis. XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and TEM microscopy were employed to examine the structural changes which occurred after heat treatments. It was found that the second stage of heat treatment promotes the formation of β-eucryptite-like solid solution nanocrystals, which enables effective control of the coefficient of thermal expansion of glass-ceramics in a wide temperature range of −120 to 500 °C. This work provides novel insights into structural rearrangement scenarios occurring in LAS glass, which are crucial for accurately predicting its crystallization behavior and ultimately achieving transparent glass-ceramics with desirable properties.

The glass crystallization regime plays a crucial role in the fabrication of glass ceramics: it affects both phase composition and microstructure, and thus the properties of the final product. In the search for new glass-ceramic materials, the development of a proper heat-treatment schedule involves the utilization of numerous glass samples that need to be thermally treated and then investigated to determine the values of the target characteristics. In this study, we evaluated the effect of crystallization temperature on the glass structure, phase composition, and hardness of glass ceramics in the ZnO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system containing TiO2 and ZrO2 as nucleators. To maximize the number of heat treatments, we performed polythermal crystallization of the glass in a wide temperature range with the help of a gradient furnace. Using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, we showed the precipitation of gahnite nanocrystals as the main phase in the bulk of a single glass sample and observed a gradual change in its microstructure, transparency, and hardness. The dependence of Vickers hardness values on heat treatment temperature was found to follow a non-linear trend, revealing the optimal thermal range for glass crystallization.