Initiative Budgeting in the Siberian Federal District: Comparative Legal Analysis

Abstract

Initiative budgeting as one of the forms of public participation in solving issues of foreign importance, has become widespread in Russia in recent years. To develop the processes of implementing initiative projects, it is necessary to build a powerful system of legal regulation. This research used the method of comparative research to identify positive experience of legal regulation by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that are part of the Siberian Federal District and issues related to the implementation of initiative budgeting. To identify the limits of regional legal regulation, we analyzed the changes in federal legislation (the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On the General Principles of Organizing Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation"), that legalized the concepts of "initiative project" and "initiative budgeting". An analysis of regional regulations showed the lack of uniform approaches to the legal regulation of this sphere, which is due to broad powers granted to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The study revealed the predominance of subordinate regulation of issues of initiative budgeting in the regional normative practice. At the same time, as a rule, initiative budgeting activities are included in regional state programs. Comprehensive legislative acts in the designated area are single and often their norms go beyond the rule-making competence of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.