MODERN POLITICAL MENTALITY OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE

Problem setting. Consideration of the basic contemporary mental characteristics of the Ukrainian people will make it possible to better understand the global perspective of the newest state building in Ukraine. Recent research and publications analysis. Mentality is thoroughly investigated by many scholars as a sociocultural phenomenon in all its diversity and complexity (S. Acre- man, R. Dodonov, J. Dyubi, D. Eber, G. Gachev, M. Gubanov, V. Gulay, L. Herasina, L. Lévy-Bruhl et al.). Particular attention deserves works that explore the phenomenon of Ukrainian mentality in all its diversity. Paper objective. The purpose of this article is to identify the modern political and mental characteristics of the Ukrainian people based on an analysis of its long-standing and recent historical experience. Paper main body. The article reveals the historical context and specific features of the modern political mentality of the Ukrainian people. The most important mental char- acteristics of Ukrainians are established using methods of historical description and sociological survey. Today, community-centeredness is a necessary mental lever for the process of decentralization, which thanks to the efforts of the central Ukrainian authori- ties led by the President of Ukraine P. O. Poroshenko is gaining momentum in modern Ukraine and has full support from the overwhelming majority of the population. This is the case when Ukrainians are typical Europeans for whom the efficient system of local self-government acts as the basis of the regime of the political polyarchy. The dominant factor in the specifics of the mental basis of Ukrainianity is long-term statelessness. This factor led to the emergence and existence of statist (state) anomie as an integral part of the political mentality of the Ukrainian people. Non-government led to the apparent disunity of Ukrainian ethnic territories in time. The affiliation of the Ukrainian lands to the Austro-Hungarian, Russian empires, Czecho- slovakia, Poland, Romania influenced the traditions, life and culture of various groups of the Ukrainian people. For example, anarchism, collectivism and paternalism are considered to be decisive for the mentality of the Dnieper people, compared with the Galician national consciousness and identification in them is much weaker. On the other hand, the mentality of Galician Ukrainians was constantly in the field of Western European culture (Polish, German, and Austrian). An important role in the mental setting of this branch of the Ukrainian people was played by the Greek-Catholic Church, which is directly subordinate to the Pope. According to the overwhelming major- ity of specialists, the habitants of Galicia have more characteristic features such as respect for property, hard work, management skills, conservatism and individualism. In addition to the regional mental separation among Ukrainians, social mental het- erogeneity has always been manifested. It is a question of the existence of two main types of mental: the Cossack and peasant. The 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity showed a complete rejection of dictatorial and authoritarian-voluntarist practices with modern Ukrainian mentality. Conclusions of the research. Conclusions are drawn: the modern political mentality of the Ukrainian people has a hybrid character (modern elements are combined with traditional ones); in connection with the process of decentralization, the mental constant of Ukrainianity was updated; will and freedom have become existential imperatives for the vast majority of modern representatives of the Ukrainian people; a new, pro-Western activist type of mentality is gradually being born and spread; the national identity and the state character of the political consciousness of Ukrainianity crystallize