INTERNET-FEDERALISM AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS IN THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE RUSSIAN LIBERAL FORCES

Abstract

The phenomenon of «internet-federalism», strictly according to the formal definition of federalism as a form of state structure, already at present claims not only for the role of «the fourth power», but as well for the role of the parallel center of authority and decision-taking. The necessary prerequisites have already been created, but the process is still not fully manageable. Due to this fact, the scientific task, put in this investigation, proposes elaboration and initial implementation of scientific technique for measuring and valuating the extent of liberal forces consolidation, which claim leadership in harvesting the «internet-federalism». Particularly, the paper introduces the notion of «internet-federalism» to the scientific discourse, describes several of its characteristics and distinguishing features, places it into the context of traditional understanding of political structure forms, identifies the liberal movement as the main stakeholder of «internet-federalism» as well as proposes an approach to measure the extent of actors’ consolidation within the Internet-space, based on the social analysis of networks and Big Data.