The object of the author's consideration is the practice of social modeling of relations between the state, government and civil society in the past and present experience of Russia. In this context, the author considers paternalism, recently established as a model of social policy, speaks about its ambiguous impact on the development of the social state and civil society, believes that paternalistic practice in its current form, firstly, contradicts the equality of the state and the human citizen enshrined in Russian legislation, and secondly, puts artificial restrictions on the free and decent expression of the will of citizens in the public space. Resolution of this contradiction, according to the author, requires not only specific legislative, economic and socio-cultural measures on the part of the authorities, but also the development of a common approach at the level of constructive and humanistic understanding of the problem. The basic concept of this approach should be the «human right to a decent existence», and the main issue – the existing discrepancy between this right, enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and the real conditions of life. The article draws attention to the fact that today the sphere of manipulative relations in all spheres of modern society is expanding, which fixes a new aspect of the phenomenon of citizenship – as a citizenship and as a real participation in the life of the country. This gives new meaning to the problem of the human right to a decent existence and the role of the social state in ensuring the latter.