From Appeals to the President to Presidential Addresses: Discursive Practices of State-Building

Abstract

This article is devoted to the development of the institution of petitions to the highest authorities in XVII–XVIII century in France, the formation of discursive practices between society and the state, and the influence of these practices on the state apparatus and the mechanisms of everyday governance. The author not only traces the origins of citizens’ appeals to the authorities but also clarifies certain elements of the super-presidential system of public administration, which retains a genetic link to absolutism. The article highlights the events that marked the beginning of the complete absorption of state governance mechanisms by the Soviet party apparatus, which ultimately had a negative impact on the system of governance and on the discourse between the state and society in independent Kazakhstan. In this regard, the concept of a «Listening State» proposed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan not only re-emphasized a number of important provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan but also stimulated a cultural shift in the interaction between society and state institutions. Alongside the issue of citizens’ petitions, the article also explores the practice of addresses made by the head of state to the nation, tracing their historical origins, political significance, and other related aspects.