The need to establish stable democratic rule in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa has recently been accentuated in the context of overcoming the ailments eroding African societies, such as ethnic violence, gender inequality, neopatrimonialism, ineffective governance and mass levels of poverty. However, despite the continuous calls for democratization on behalf of the
international community, the majority of the countries in the region is still characterized as widely undemocratic. This state of affairs, in turn, necessitates a deeper scrutiny of the patterns of democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on the study of the endogenous and exogenous factors with a potential for producing a positive impact on the demand for democracy. Following the events of the Arab spring, digital globalization
in the form of Internet and social media use may be hypothesized to represent one of such factors. This study rests on the hypothesis whereby there is a correlation between social media and Internet use, on the one hand, and the demand for democracy, on the other. Using the latest Afrobarometer merged dataset, a multivariate logistic regression was carried out
for Mali and Sudan to establish a correlation, or a lack thereof, between the intensification of digital globalization and the increase in the demand for democracy in these countries. Based on the results obtained, conclusions were drawn regarding the role of digital globalization in the democratization process Mali and Sudan.

The article discusses the current problems of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in the fields of demography, education, housing conditions and health; presents statistical data with the dynamics of changes in each area in recent years. The ways of solving problematic situations on the part of the state authorities are proposed.

The article presents the results of a study of volunteering in the field of social filmmaking on the example of the social film studio “Giraffe” in St. Petersburg. The aim of the study is to identify incentives and obstacles for young people to volunteer in NGOs, including in the field of social film production. The central concept for the study is considered in detail — film volunteering. The main research method is a focus group interview.
As a result of the conducted research, it was determined that the youth of St. Petersburg is not informed about the possibilities of film volunteering, which are provided by various organizations. However, the respondents noted a desire to participate in volunteer activities in the field of social filmmaking. The main reasons for the interest in the field is the opportunity to get acquainted with the structure of film production from the inside and join the professional community, participate in solving social problems, as well as the overall uniqueness of the field of volunteering. The main obstacle was the lack of immediately visible results of assistance.
Based on the results of the study, recommendations were developed for organizing a volunteer search system using the example of a social film studio: the need to create a documentthatenshrinestherightsandobligationsofboththeorganizationandvolunteers; conducting team-building activities to form a permanent volunteer staff; using non- standard methods of attracting young people and stimulating. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of the recommendations received. The directions of further research can be a detailed study of practices among Russian volunteers in order to further classify them; the study of the social characteristics of Russian cultural volunteers in order to draw up a portrait of a cultural volunteer. In connection with the hypotheses of the study, the study of the involvement of volunteers by organizations is relevant. It is also possible to consider organizations involved in attracting volunteers in comparison with organizations in other countries.

In their study, the author aims to develop a possible strategy to combat the negative consequences of spatial inequality. For this purpose, the author formulates a definition of spatial inequality, classifies the types of this phenomenon, models a strategy to combat spatial inequality between the regions of the Russian Federation. Through the analysis of official statistics, the author concludes that the problem is relevant for the regions of Russia and requires to adhere to a strategic approach to solving. The article will be of interest to young scientists studying new forms of social inequality.

Appeal proceedings are among the dynamically developing institutions of criminal procedure law. Over its long history, it has gone a long way to reform and improve, but if we try to find out where this institution originates in Russia, we will face a number of difficulties due to problems with defining the features of appeal in the early stages of development, as well as different periods of emergence and beginning of development compared to other states. The purpose of this article is to study the sources of Russian law, including the Novgorod and Pskov judicial charters, the Court Books of Ivan III and Ivan IV, the Cathedral Code — this study makes it possible to analyze the institute of appeal in Russia, its formation at the initial stage of development. The article also examines further changes in the imperial period and compares the level of development and main features at all stages of the existence of appeal proceedings in Russia with appeal in such foreign countries as France and England. The paper also touches on the state of appeal in the Soviet period. As a result of the work, it was concluded that, despite the later origin and formation of the appeal system of Russia in comparison with foreign countries, by the imperial period it was able to eliminate the backlog from its European neighbors.

The article examines the problem of the content of the concept of “possession”, the development and path of this term in the legal systems of three countries: Russia, Germany and France. The author presents the points of view of scientists and lawyers, which allow us to draw conclusions about the main concepts regarding the meaning and implementation of the right of ownership. The article analyzes the presented positions based on the features of the reception of the concept of “possession” from Roman private law, as well as on official and unofficial interpretations of this term. When considering ownership under German law, quotations are given from the Civil Code of the German Empire from 1900, through which a connection is established with the terms developed by Roman law regarding ownership. Analyzing the French concept of ownership, the author refers to the French Civil Code (the Napoleonic Code) and the doctrinal interpretation of ownership by lawyers. The state of the ownership category in Russia is also assessed in two aspects: theoretical and practical. In theory, the author considers three points of view about the essence of ownership, and in practice — refers to the legislative act, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The author comes to the following conclusion: in the Russian Federation there is no single concept of ownership both in scientific jurisprudence and in practice. This is shown by contrast with the almost complete regulation of ownership in Germany and France. The proposal to solve the problem presented by the author at the end of the article seems justified due to the possibility of its implementation at the official (legislative) level.

This article examines changes in monetary policy undertaken by central banks of leading economies to slow down growing financial instability. Particular attention is paid to changes in the state of monetary aggregates M1–M3 under the influence of actions taken to control the money supply. The purpose of the article is to determine trends in the monetary policy of foreign countries during the reviewed period. For this purpose, the central banks of the United States of America, China, Japan, the Eurozone, Great Britain and Poland were selected. The study demonstrated that, despite the different sizes of national economies, the attention in the policies pursued was universally paid to containing inflation rates and inflation expectations. The period of instability under consideration began in 2020 against the backdrop of the pandemic, so a set of monetary policy measures was formed before the developments of 2022.

In the current situation on the global gas market, significant changes are required, and Russia, as one of the largest players in the gas industry, must actively adapt to new conditions to maintain its position on the global stage. The article identifies the current position of Russian companies in the global gas market, outlines the modern trends of this market, analyzes the main problems and obstacles of the Russian gas industry, and proposes prospective solutions to strengthen the positions of Russian gas companies.

In the first part of the paper (available at https://www.nxtjournal.ru/jour/article/view/442), the author conducted a literature review and stated a problem.
The second part of the article, devoted to the soft power of higher education, engages in the analyses of the Russian case: its experiences in deploying soft power since 2000s and its prospects for development after the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine. As for the samples, such databases as Wissenschaft Weltoffen, OECD, Project Atlas and UNESCO as well as reports of Rossotrudnichestvo and the Higher School of Economics were applied in the study. The main conclusion of the study is that although the concept of soft power is relatively new in Russia, the potential of higher education soft power is actively used as a political and ideological tool in the struggle against neoliberal states for cultural and civilisational supremacy on the world stage, which is particularly evident after February 2022. Russia has fundamentally revised its humanitarian policy in the field of education and has moved away from cooperation with Western European countries towards establishing and strengthening inter-state relations in the field of education with the Asia-Pacific region, the Islamic world and Africa.
Finally, the author proposes some recommendations for enhancing Russia’s influence in the international arena by strengthening Russian soft power in higher education. These include increasing funding for this social sphere, establishing an academic exchange service based on an association of Russian universities, attracting foreign specialists to implement best educational practices, and implementing licensed programmes in foreign languages in order to expand the target audience of higher education.

This paper deals with volunteering as a type of civic activity that affects the development of civil society. The research focuses on the youth as a special social and age group, its specificity being accounted for by the dynamics of the young people’s social status. The authors suggest variables and indicators to measure the level and degree of the young people’s involvement in volunteering. Based on the data obtained within the framework of the empirical study of the students of the North-Western Institute of Management, Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation), conclusions have been made concerning the extent of their awareness of the essence of volunteering, the main channels of information, about the motives, barriers and popular practices of participating in volunteering. Some recommendations have been presented for involving young people in volunteering.

The article considers the possibility of managing the coordination of housing and social and household construction, using the example of a city St. Petersburg.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the factors affecting the imbalance between the construction of housing and social infrastructure in the city of St. Petersburg and the boundaries of the agglomeration and to identify the main strategic directions of the model for coordinating housing and social and household construction.
The relevance of the problem is caused by the lag in the construction of social facilities from housing construction. The agglomeration driver inexorably imposes its imprint on the need to coordinate housing and social and household construction in St. Petersburg. This is mainly reflected in the intensity of ties between the city of St. Petersburg and the neighboring settlements of the Leningrad Region with rapidly developing housing construction.
Based on the analysis of strategic documents, factors affecting the imbalance in the construction of housing and social infrastructure in the city and the agglomeration are analyzed.
The main strategic directions of the model of synchronization of housing and social and household construction are proposed. In accordance with the proposed model, it is possible to reduce the risks of social and household tensions. For effective control levers, it is necessary to use a set of strategic planning methods that will be considered in further research. The development of strategy at this level in its main part is aimed at strengthening the construction industry, the new standard of urban housing construction, and the creation of a social and household infrastructure of regulatory accessibility.