PILIETIŠKUMO NUVERTINIMO ISSUKIS.

This paper discusses the problem of civil education in contemporary post-soviet region society. The survey of the latest alterations in social behavior reveals the disunity of society, devaluation of civil attitudes and approaches, conspicuous non-education, and dilettantism of the significant part of society. The so-called knowledge society can be evaluated as network society, when people have a lot of knowledge "about everything", but almost nothing about substantial features and nature of social processes. This society has often been characterized as consumer society, which realizes less its own responsibilities and opportunities in dealing with both the local community as well as national and international issues. The society is increasingly overwhelmed by frustration and apathy, individualism and distrust of anyone. Public frustration and indifference have been more and more expressed in residents' decreasing participation in elections of municipalities councils, and still less confidence in elected persons. The civil society's degradation problem both in Lithuania and in other post-Soviet countries is determined by political reluctance of present administrations and their inability to change the content of their activity, as well as strategic decision-making methods and procedures. However, the active part of the society is not inclined only to passively monitor the erosion of civil position. It is participating in very intensive discussion on the following topics: 1) the role of personality in the modern society, 2) the citizens' ability to participate in making decisions, which are extremely important for the public interest, 3) changes in the concepts of local and state governance, 4) the formation of new power centers in the global space, 5) the role of nations and their cultural heritage in the changing world, 6) alterations in the value system. Representatives of the different social groups are presenting wide variety of social problem-solving models: from proposals about immediate imposition of the absolute dictatorship to unsophisticated faith, that everything will be solved by itself, i.e. evolutionary. The attitude that nothing can be changed has been promoted quite often, so that the world, nevertheless, is rolling into perdition. The 2nd article of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania states: "The State of Lithuania shall be created by the Nation. Sovereignty shall belong to the Nation." The 4th article states: "The Nation shall execute its supreme sovereign power either directly or through its democratically elected representatives." Analogical approach is expressed in the 33rd article: "Citizens shall have the right to participate in the governance of their State both directly and through their democratically elected representatives as well as the right to enter on equal terms in the State service of the Republic of Lithuania." But for implementation of these provisions, it is necessary that the state should have: 1) citizens, not "inhabitants" or as it is now often identified in the public space as "Lithuania's people"; 2) self-controlled territory, which belongs only to its citizens; 3) culture (language, education, science, art, etc.). If at least one of these elements is "almost no longer exists", the state also no longer exists. Citizen's ethnic identity ignorance is completely unacceptable and can be treated as the humanitarian crime. Ethnicity is not and shall not be an obstacle for the formation of civil society. Civil society encourages the development of national cultures. However, analysis of the content of public information sources reveals a rather strange tendency when attempting to ignore, belittle or even deny the importance of classical national culture, explaining that national cultural heritage has completely lost its meaning and its place is now only in museums and domestic exhibitions of cultural objects, i.e. so-called skansens. Therefore, it is not appropriate to call our current society as knowledge society. The more exact description can be like "society of myths and public images". Huge divide between "mine" and "not mine" (company, street, someone else's owned forest or even the state) is also the biggest obstacle for the formation of the civil activity. In order to solve these problems it is necessary to start changing the state and local institutional frameworks, by creating the new procedures of the elections, as well as by creating the effective system of elected persons' responsibility for the citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]