Local Government as a Form of Democracy in Russia

Valentin Y Lyubashits,Iryna A Sokolova,Andrey A Plotnikov,Dmitry A Voitenko,Viktor P Lyakhov

doi:10.7596/taksad.v8i3.2252

Abstract

Local government has a special place in the democratic mechanism of governing society and a state. The modernization of local self-government in post-Soviet Russia is at its early stage. Today we can only talk about some positive trends in this process. First of all, it should be noted that local self-government has both a special subject, which is the population, citizens and a special object of management: issues of local importance. Besides, one of the basic concepts that characterize the essence of local self-government as a form of organization and exercise of power is independence. Like any other form of social self-government, local government is a powerful means of activating a political system, democratic institutions, individual citizens, and of combating bureaucracy and formalism in the work of state governing bodies. The definition of the socio-political nature of the local self-government draws attention to it, first of all, by its pronounced democratic essence. The formation of local government is a long process, and its implementation should be carried out on a systematic (planned) basis in the form of a state program. However, self-government is not only the basis of democracy. Self-government and self-governing groups are the highest forms of integration of people, corresponding to the very nature of a man. This paper is dedicated to the main milestones of evolution of the local government in Russia.

Highlights

History of Local GovernanceLocal government has a “central position” between a state and society
Constitutions of a number of countries sometimes do not regulate the organization of local authorities at all, and the latest tendency is to regulate these relations more and more in detail, as in Brazil, where the Constitution of the subjects of federations, statutes and similar acts for regions that enjoy state autonomy often regulate the organization of local government in detail
The modernization of local self-government in post-Soviet Russia is at its early stage

Summary

Introduction

Local government has a “central position” between a state and society. It is in this position that this socio-political institution plays a key role in preserving and strengthening statehood. On June 12, 1890, new Regulations on Zemstvo institutions approved by Alexander III was published It restored the stratification of electoral groups and, thanks to a change in qualifications, further strengthened the representation of the nobility. By the end of the 19th century, the anxieties of the “vague” 60s-80s were forgotten, the formal zemstvo demonstrated “loyalty”, and the peasant world led by local district chiefs, who replaced the village self-government in 1889, was relieved of “severities” of the unattached democracy. Neither the first nor the second Duma had time to consider the issue of the Zemstvo and City reforms as a result of their premature dissolution, the state government introduced to the Second Duma a draft regulation on the township and volost administration, and the Cadets raised the issue on the election of Zemstvo councilors. The councils acted on the principles of centralism, the executive committees of local councils were at the same time local governments and were part of the government system

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Discussion

Conclusions