The protection of public order is one of the most important functions of the state, with proper implementation of which the normal progressive development of society is possible. The participation of citizens in the protection of public order is often unreasonably overlooked by scientific research, since attention is paid only to the activities of law enforcement agencies in this area. We believe that the potential of citizens' participation in the protection of public order is underestimated and needs additional scientific analysis and improvement of regulatory regulation of such activities. The article examines the essence of the concept of administrative and legal regulation of citizens' participation in the protection of public order by studying its content as a set of legal categories "participation of citizens in the protection of public order" and "mechanism of administrative and legal regulation". The analysis made it possible to formulate the author's definitions of the concepts "participation of citizens in the protection of public order" and "administrative and legal regulation of citizens' participation in the protection of public order".