The article analyzes the socio-managerial component of patriotic education of Ukrainian youth in the process of state building, economic crisis and war in the East. It is claimed that the bodies of state power, public administration and higher education of Ukraine are set important tasks for the formation of state youth, beliefs and patriotism in modern youth. The approved state target programs of patriotic education require the formation of a holistic national policy of national-patriotic education, based on the combination of the management vertical with the institutions of civil society. It is determined that in order to fulfill the set tasks it is necessary to rethink the approaches of public administration, local self- government and higher education institutions to patriotic education of youth in the context of transformation of worldviews of young Ukrainians. It is argued that Ukraine, which has proclaimed the European vector of its development, should focus on European practices in the system of patriotic education, adhering to the principle: «unity in diversity». As a result of the comparative analysis, it is substantiated that the process of implementation of the state program of patriotic education requires consideration of regional, ethnic and cultural traditions as a condition that significantly affects the formation of national identity of youth. The need to change the public administration's approaches to the sequence of links in the social chain from «state – society – man» to «man – society – state» was noted separately. The importance of state support for the active activities of Ukrainian youth public associations such as Plast, the Union of Ukrainian Youth, etc. was emphasized. It is stated that only the provision of public administration, the functioning of the centers of national and patriotic education will not give the desired result.