Civil life. The crash course

An especially-created and exceptional course from the Open University which is dedicated to the parliamentary elections held on September 18, 2016. Without discussing either the honesty and political situation surrounding these elections, or specific candidates, the Open University stems from the indisputable value of the election process itself and its fundamental importance for a democratic society. The course consists of two parts. It opens with a series of interviews with lecturers, experts and friends of the Open University on the basic problems of today's civil identity — these interviews should help the user to clarify the limits of their own civic responsibility and the amount of civic activity to which they can commit. The second part of the course is a practical guide for those who make the decision to participate in elections as agitators and observers, and covers the main legal, technical and psychological problems associated with election campaigning and observation of voting and vote counting. In an illustrative and compact format, the course answers the following questions: what rights the agitator has; how to properly talk about elections with strangers; how to become an observer; what an observer does on election day and how they these can be falsified. As a whole, the special course from the Open University offers to investigate and clarify the workings of the election campaign and how it is organized in today's Russia. This is presented within the framework of how and why such knowledge is necessary for a modern citizen who feels responsible for what is happening to their country.