POLITICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN STATE POWER AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN HAROLD LASSWELL’S CONCEPT

Abstract

The article explores the political-psychological mechanisms of interaction between state power and civil society based on Harold Lasswell’s concept. Special attention is given to Lasswell’s theoretical approaches to analyzing the interaction between authority and civil society, which include psychological aspects, the processes of political decision-making, and mechanisms of influencing mass consciousness. The article also examines key principles of political psychology that help better understand how the state interacts with citizens and how civil society can influence decision-making processes. It identifies how psychopathological factors affect the interaction between state power and civil society. The study considers how unconscious motives, emotions, and internal conflicts of political leaders and groups shape political life, and how these elements correlate with decision-making, communication with the public, and the organization of power structures. It is established that civil society may also be influenced by collective emotions and traumas, which can both restrain and amplify “psychopathological shifts” within the government. The article argues that Lasswell’s concept offers a valuable framework for understanding how psychological mechanisms mediate the interaction between state power and civil society, as well as how psychological aspects such as the manipulation of mass consciousness and the formation of political identity contribute to the stability of power and facilitate effective interaction with citizens. The study concludes that analyzing the interaction between the state and civil society requires consideration not only of social and economic factors but also of psychological aspects that influence political behavior in society.