Communication Regime of Belarus: Reflection of the Institutional Matrix

Abstract

In this paper, using Belarus as an example, we study the mechanisms and conditions for establishing a communication regime, as well as a possible “corridor” for its changes. Based on the analysis of communication channels and the conjugation of communication and institutional approaches, it is shown that communication channels do not arise chaotically, but are regulated by the established configuration of institutions that govern the social system. The intensity of intercountry communications is determined by the institutional affinity of the interacting countries and reaches a maximum in the case of their civilizational unity. The mechanisms and conditions for establishing the communication regime of Belarus are explained by the properties of its institutional matrix, as well as the conditions of existence of society on the line of a civilizational fault. It is shown that the main organizing role in the formation of communication flows in Belarus is assumed by the state, which corresponds to the X (non-Western) type of institutional matrix with the dominance of redistributive institutions and presupposes the presence of a strong branch of government coordinating public activity. The role of religion in the formation of the communication regime is analyzed. It is shown that the communication regime of Belarus is characterized by the presence of two civilizationally divided cores associated with the Eastern and Western Christian churches. The possibility of civilizational changes due to intercountry communications (shifting the border of the civilizational schism from the territory of Belarus to its western borders) and phenomena that hinder them are discussed. The conditions imposed on the “corridor” of changes in the communication regime are defined: achieving a balance of institutional changes initiated “from above” and the readiness to accept these changes “from below”.