title: The Public as a Subject of Study of Social Sciences
abstract: The article analyzes the definitions of the public as a subject of social sciences. The purpose of the paper is to operationalize the concept of the public for its practical application in the system of functioning of political institutions. The basis of the methodology is an instrumental approach. The methods used are comparative, legal analysis, description and generalization of data, a questionnaire survey of residents of a metropolitan Russian city to assess the potential of public activity 
journal: Koinon