ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ ДЕПОПУЛЯЦИЯ МУНИЦИПАЛЬНОЙ ПЕРИФЕРИИ: ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ И ЭЛЕКТОРАЛЬНЫЕ ПОСЛЕДСТВИЯ ОБЪЕДИНЕНИЯ МУНИЦИПАЛИТЕТОВ НА ПРИМЕРЕ ПЕРМСКОГО КРАЯ

Abstract

Introduction: the process of municipalities’ unification in the Perm region is nearly completed, resulting in establishing one-level system of urban and municipal districts to replace the two-level local government system that included both urban and rural settlements. The abolition of settlements is accompanied by reducing the number of local deputies and reconfiguration of local political space. Regardless of fairly large amounts of statistical data we know very little about any concrete political and electoral consequences of municipalities unification for political actors in ex-settlements. Objectives: to find answers to the following research questions: did the layer of municipal politicians acting at ex- settlements level remain after the reform? To what extent have they been able to integrate into the representative bodies of the unified municipalities? Methods: analysis of quantitative data contained in elections statistics covering 43 unification voting campaigns in the Perm region between 2012 and 2021. Results: the research concludes that, of several thousands of local politicians previously active in the Perm region, the vast majority chose exit strategy and quit politics. Local residents of the unified settlements representing political periphery make up only a small proportion of the new deputies. Residents of most urbanized and centralized peripheral settlements were least active and least successful. It is very rarely that local politicians resisted the unifications and liquidations. After the territories unification, the competition at municipal elections in the Perm region showed a certain reduction rather than expected growth. Conclusions: the unification of rural and urban settlements in the Perm region has led not only to the formal liquidation of municipalities and their local governments, but also to the actual dilution of municipal political class on a rural level. What happened, in fact, was the political depopulation of rural peripheries in the newly formed municipal districts. Following the liquidation of the local governments, politics quit the ex-regions and politicians followed the suit. Of all deputes elected as ex-settlements residents to the representative organs of the newly formed urban and rural municipal districts, only few still participate in politics, but mostly only on administrative center issues. Centralization of local politics, limiting local political space to administrative centers and actual abolition of political subjects at its periphery are some of the most significant consequences resulting from local government optimization in the Perm region.