The purpose of the article is to study the formation and development of e-government in Bulgaria, as a factor in the modernization of public administration, assessment of trends in the use of administrative e-services based on the analysis of the current situation. The following tasks are solved in the article: the formation of e-government and e-government in Bulgaria is substantiated; e-government reforms are considered; current trends in the development of e-government and e-government as an institutional structure of Bulgaria are studied. The term “Bulgarian e-government” was first used in the Unified system of registration of civil status acts and administrative services in 1977. A successful unified registry of civil status acts provided effective access to citizens and organizations to obtain certificates, copies of civil status acts, forms building permits, use permits, duties, tax regulations. The political changes of 1989 and the democratization of the Republic of Bulgaria caused the need for a new administrative and legal framework, and the preparation for joining the EU – a certain renaissance of the e-government in a new phase and form. In 2005, the Republic of Bulgaria adopted modern national legislation in terms of interoperability with the EU, the National Information Society Strategy, which put the Republic of Bulgaria among the first European countries with such a direction of action. At the same time, there is low confidence in e-services in the Republic of Bulgaria, which is indirectly observed due to too low a percentage of e-purchases. Even in the capital, Sofia, the types of pre-paid services are very limited – instead the practice of payment on delivery is very common. Only business is the bearer of all risks. New generations of users with IT literacy are slowly mastering these changes. Still, gradually, the benefits of more efficient administration and business based on integrated data registers with shared responsibilities are becoming, despite all the difficulties, the best choice for many people. Now the process of e-governance reforms in the Republic of Bulgaria is a component of a new political and economic model of development. For the complete modernization of Public Administration in the Republic of Bulgaria, broad consultations should be introduced between the State agency, the Operator of the Unified System, business and manufacturing, on the one hand, and citizens, on the other. Such actions, combined with reforms, will significantly accelerate the modernization of Public Administration in the state.

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The author proves that political parties are an important element of the political system, a force that represents the interests of various social groups, provides communication between them and forms the domestic and foreign policy of the state. It is noted that Bulgaria’s path to the European Union was quite diverse in historical and political context and contributed to positive changes in the political and economic sphere of society. Political parties played an important role in the European integration processes of the Republic of Bulgaria. In the early 1990s a consensus had been formed among the leading political parties on the need for its accession to the EU. Due to this, the course of European integration of Bulgaria was successfully implemented, despite the change of socialist, liberal or conservative political forces in the government. The official programs on European integration of the most influential political parties in Bulgarian society that had representation in the Parliament and were part of the government since 1989 – the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the Union of Democratic Forces, the National Movement “Simeon II”, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the “Attack”, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) – were analyzed. It is pointed out that political consensus between political parties is extremely important in achieving the main goal of Bulgarian society – accession to the European Union and development of the Republic as a member of this international organization.

The article defines that political institutions are integral elements of the political system of society, important subjects of politics and carriers of the political process, that regulate the political organization of society, ensuring its stable and long-term functioning. It is stated that the main scientific approaches to understanding the phenomenon of political communication is positivism, behaviorism, structural functionalism, institutionalism and the attention is drawn to the fact that the mass media perform several functions in modern society – communicative, informational, relay, through the implementation of which, media affects all spheres of society and play an important role in the process of interaction between the government and the public. It was noted that the authorities of the Republic of Bulgaria took advantage of the historical moment when the European Union member states were interested in cooperation and were able to convince the Bulgarian society that membership in the EU is a way to solve economic problems, which will further contribute to the economic well-being of the country. The article mentions that an important role in the European integration process of interaction between the authorities and the public was played by Bulgarian journalists, who conducted an extremely intensive and important information campaign, which resulted in 76% of support for the Republic’s membership in this international organization by the Bulgarian society The experience of the Republic of Bulgaria shows that effective work of the mass media is extremely important for establishing communication interaction between government and civil society at a crucial moment for the country. However, the modern Bulgarian media environment is subject to intense criticism for the poor quality of the media product, the media’s dependence on oligarchs, and corruption.

It is identified in the paper that one of the important prerequisites for implementing an effective European integration policy is to consider the theories of Europeanization and new institutionalism. The essence of the concepts of "Europeanization" and "new institutionalism" is studied, the evolution of theoretical approaches to their research is considered, and the directions of studying "external" Europeanization were analyzed. The paper proves that the concept of Europeanization is widely used in the European scientific literature to analyze the political and regulatory influence of the European Union on new EU member states and neighboring countries, as well as the fundamental mechanisms of Europeanization. The author notes that Europeanization implies changes, transformations, and reforms taking place in all spheres of life under the influence of European integration processes, which can be analyzed from the standpoint of new institutionalism. The key provision of the new institutionalism is defined by the commonly used expression – "institutions matter", whose analytical priorities are to use a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of norms, institutions and processes.