CH. MONTESQUIEU’s IDEAS "ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE" AND "THE WAY OF GOVERNMENT" AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON MODERN RUSSIAN CONSERVATISM
The modernization of interest in conservative ideology is due to a change in the development paradigm of the world community and the search for answers to many global and regional challenges. New approaches are needed to improve the management system of an increasingly complex society based on the development by each country of its own unique model of state structure. The article examines the influence of the ideas of C.-L. Montesquieu about the «spirit of the people» and «way of government» on the formation of the concept of Russian conservatism and the first Russian conservative N. M. Karamzin, whose ideas laid the foundation for the national-conservative current of the tradition of understanding the place of Russia in the world, its political structure and political self-identification. Almost two centuries later at the beginning of the XXI century after the period of radical liberal reforms of the 90s. in Russian society, a new demand arises for comprehending its new place in the world, a «moderate way of government» on the basis of traditional values imbued with the «spirit of the people.» To the ideas of S.-L. Montesquieu and N. M. Karamzin are beginning to contact not only researchers, but also politicians, which is manifested in a gradual strengthening of the conservative trend, most clearly outlined by the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin at the Valdai Forum in October 2021.