Local Government In Russia Research Articles

МЕСТНОЕ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ В РОССИИ КАК ФЛУКТУИРУЮЩАЯ ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ РЕАЛЬНОСТЬ (К 30-ЛЕТИЮ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЯ МЕСТНОГО САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ КОНСТИТУЦИЕЙ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ)

The article discusses the prerequisites for the inclusion of an article on local government in the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. The study shows that at the time there were no objective prerequisites for the formation of local government in Russia in a radical form of local government bodies operating outside from the system of state authorities. Such a scenario was not considered in public discourse up till 1993. It emerged reactively in the context of a political confrontation between the Supreme Soviet and the presidential government in 1993. Soviet officials, in charge of local administrations during the collapse of the Soviet system of power, were the political force interested in such a radical move. In exchange for political support, the presidential draft of the constitution included a clause stating that local authorities are not part of the system of public administration. After political struggles get resolved, the need for the institution of local government disappears. Similar cases in Russian history were also caused by situational political reasons. Hence it is possible to talk about cases of local government emergence in Russia as a special fluctuating political reality. There are limits to institutional methodology, which absolutizes the role of institutions in solving problems of social development.

Changes in the Local Territorial Government Organization and Their Effect on Municipal Budgets (by the Example of Trans-Baikal Region)

The current reform of local governments in Russia is a process of optimization, consolidation and changing the territorial government organization, which corresponds to global trends in searching for a relevant and effective local territorial governance scheme. The new wave of interest to this process in the RF has been caused by establishing a new type of municipality, namely, municipal district. The article studies the problem of changes in local territorial governance organization in Russia and in Trans-Baikal region, in particular, as well as the effect of these changes on municipal budgets. The analytical calculations are based on the data from The Federal State Statistic Service of RF; the time lag for analyzing the local territorial governance organization is the period of 2007–2020, and 2016–2020 — for analyzing the budget funding of the transformed municipalities in Trans-Baikal region. The results of the study show that the common trends of consolidation of municipalities in Russia became evident only in 2020. According to the analysis of income and expenditures per capita, the territorial transformation of municipality influences the budget relations on the municipal level. Basing on the results of the study, the author proves the necessity of conducting a complex analysis before taking a decision to change a local territorial governance organization in order to build up the financial base of the municipalities.

Communicative model as an institutionalization factor for a local self-government in the Russian Federation

The paper investigates the communicative model’s influence on the local self-government development in Russia. The research’s relevance lies in the role of communication in the institutionalization of local government in Russia and is determined by the weakness inherent in local government institutions here. The nature of local self-government in the Russian Federation is contradictory. Local self-government bodies are closely connected with the state power and dependent on it, and at the same time, they are legally excluded from the system of state power bodies. The internal political events of the first half of 2020 indicate a new turn in the development of local self-government in the Russian Federation. According to the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted following the referendum of July 1, 2020, local self-government and state authorities are part of the unified public authority system in the Russian Federation, while at the same time local self-government bodies may be vested with certain state powers, provided that the material and financial resources necessary for the exercise of such powers are transferred to them. The implementation of the delegated powers to local self-government bodies is controlled by the state.

Constitutional Legal Framework of Local Government in Russia and South Africa

The article examines certain issues relating to the constitutional and legal regulation of local self-government in Russia and South Africa in the context of their cooperation within the partnership of the BRICS countries, as well as the constitutional reforms of local self-government carried out in these states. It is noted that, despite the fundamental difference in the historical prerequisites for their implementation, the constitutional and legal approaches to determining the legal nature of local self-government and identifying its status in the general system of public authority in these countries have similar features. This circumstance, according to the author, indicates the potential for a convergence of the systems of legal regulation of these countries and actualizes the need to exchange experience in legal regulation in this area in order to solve similar problems of development of local self-government.

Участие представителей общественности в разработке реформы Временного правительства в области местного самоуправления

The paper considers the prerequisites and general trends in the development of local government in Russia during the Provisional Government and the issue of participation of the organized public in the reform activities of the Provisional Government, aimed at reorganizing the system of local government. The victory of the February Revolution raised the question of how the government in the center and in the localities will work. Provisional Government took a course towards building an updated system of municipal government and indicated this in the Declaration of March 3, 1917. On March 23 Counsel on the reform of local government and administration under the Ministry of the Interior was formed. It was engaged in legal support of the local government reform. Experienced zemstvo and city actors, as well as notable representatives of the scientific community, took part in the work of the Counsel, thanks to which the Provisional Government managed to achieve certain success in the formation of the beginnings of a new Russian civil society, built on a system of full-fledged realization of the rights and freedoms of citizens through local authorities. However, due to the slowness and certain actual problems, the reorganization was not finished.

Местная власть в России: новый способ конструирования объясняющей модели

The article proceeds from the concept of understanding local government in Russia as a projection of the potestar (pre-state) organization of public life, which transforms under the dominance of methods of state organization of public life, but retains its influence as the essential core of political and social interaction between people. The existing complex «state-municipal» mechanism for exercising power at the local level largely determines the forms and nature of political actors’ interaction at the regional level. State authorities, which are focused on the totality of their own administrative influences, have not yet succeeded in fully integrating local self-government into the general public space of responsibility for powers, since local power is unbuilt initially on the principles of autogenesis, autochthony and autonomy. The current situation contributes to the archaicism of a part of social relations. For some time now, to work in the multidimensional reality of society, the authorities have begun to need analytical models to understand what is happening. As an explanatory theoretical basis for the modes of existence of local authorities developed and described by the author in the current stage of development of Russian statehood, a modal methodology is used, supplemented by the results of constructing model-oriented political ontologies, which reflect the aggregates of the layers and actors of the municipal sphere of sociopolitical reality at the regional level that are actually and actively present in the Russian society. The author is interested in searching the patterns that operate in the environment created and cultivated by the organizational and activity efforts of state structures against the background of sociocultural and other characteristics inherent in the regions. Possible working models for the needs of public administration arising from the modes offered by the author are still under development, since the reform of constitutional rules proposed by the country’s leadership raises the question of new forms of organizing the continuum of coexistence and interaction of local and state authorities in Russia. The article outlines the main research lines that indicate a number of features and reference points of the author’s approach in understanding the relationship between local government and municipal government, which may serve as an occasion for a new circle of discussions of specialists interested in the prospects for the development of political potential in the Russian municipal environment.

The President and Local Government in Russia: The Theory and Practice of Interaction

Since the adoption of the current Constitution of Russia that established the constitutional foundations of the implementation of state power and local self-government in the Russian Federation, more than 25 have passed. This period was saturated from the point of view of the formation of the legal framework of socio-political and socio-economic relations in our country. The analysis shows that local self-government is one of the basic characteristics of the Russian model of democracy. On the other hand, in recent years it is impossible not to mention the tendency to increase the efforts of federal authorities, and first of all the head of state, to maximize the involvement of local authorities of self-government in a unified political and legal field of the State. This is largely justified by the need to provide every resident of the country with equal opportunities for a comfortable and safe life. The paper formulates the author’s view concerning the changes that are taking place; and at the same time, it is proposed to continue scientific discussions regarding the development of local self-government—an institution of a modern civilized democratic state that is necessary for us all.

Реформа местного самоуправления в современной Pоссии (на примере Bоронежской области)

<p>W artykule przeanalizowano innowacje w ustawodawstwie dotyczącym organizacji samorządu lokalnego w Rosji, podsumowano pierwsze kroki w ich praktycznym wdrażaniu, przedstawiono różne punkty widzenia dotyczące treści i możliwych konsekwencji tej reformy oraz pokazano specyfikę doświadczenia w organizacji samorządu lokalnego w obwodzie woroneskim.</p>

Protection of the economic basis of local self-government in
 the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Russia

The subject. The article is devoted to the analysis of decisions of the Constitutional Court of
 Russia concerning the economic basis of local government in Russia in order to demonstrate
 the special role of its legal positions in ensuring and protecting the economic foundations
 of local self-government in the Russian Federation. The subject of the article is legal acts
 and decisions of the Constitutional Court of Russia devoted to the economic foundations of
 local self-government in Russian Federation.
 The aim of the article is to confirm or disprove the following hypothesis. As it seems from
 the practice of the Constitutional Court of Russia, the existing system of implementing the
 regulatory framework of the economic basis of municipalities in Russia is unsatisfactory,
 while the Constitutional Court of Russia, through the development of its legal positions,
 smoothes out the negative aspects and sets up legislative and executive authorities to create the necessary conditions for the development of local government and to ensure its
 economic and organizational independence. The methodology. The authors apply general scientific methods of comparative, logical and
 statistical research, as well as analysis of Russian law enforcement and judicial practice in
 the field of local self-government.
 The main results, scope of application. Despite the provisions of the European Charter of
 Local Government on the right of local governments to possess sufficient own financial resources, the reality shows a very deplorable picture of the formation of the regulatory
 framework of the economy of municipalities in Russia. The existence of very heterogeneous
 judicial practice, primarily arbitration, makes the situation worse. In this regard, a special
 role in protecting the economic foundations of local government is assigned to the Constitutional Court of Russia.
 Conclusion. The issues of legal regulation of the economic basis of local government need increased attention of the state and urgently require a deliberate change, primarily in the form
 of developing a federal state policy, taking into account the practice already developed by the
 Constitutional Court of Russia. It is the highest federal body of constitutional justice that often
 acts as the last bastion of protecting the economic potential of local government.

The need for financial and administrative self-sufficiency of urban municipal entities

Subject. The article discusses the system of local government in urban districts of the Russian Federation, its distinctions and development impediments. Objectives. The study determines whether it is reasonable to create internal municipal entities in cities of urban districts from perspectives of their fiscal and administrative self-sufficiency. Methods. I used general methods of research, such as comparison, analysis, synthesis, analogy and systems approach. Results. I analyzed financial and organizational conditions for urban districts and internal city districts in the Russian Federation before and after local government reforms. Nowadays, internal districts in cities are found to have ceased their financial and administrative independence, whether they have their own budget or not. Their operations do not improve the overall local government system. Therefore, I suggest setting the mechanism for the bottom-to-top authority assignment, rather than the top-to-bottom one. Thus, internal municipal entities will be allowed to determine powers, allocate funds, delegate them to urban district authorities. Local authorities will show better performance, since people will be directly involved in local decision-making processes and support their initiatives before municipal authorities. Conclusions and Relevance. The analysis and recommendations will help municipal entities of the Russian Federation make decisions concerning their intentions to become an urban district with internal districts within a city. The findings are useful to outline development lines for local government in Russia.

Местное самоуправление в России: ожидание больших перемен или точечная настройка?

Местное самоуправление в России: ожидание больших перемен или точечная настройка?

Local government in Russia at a crossroad: The dynamics of constitutional doctrine and legal regulation

The article examines the specificity of the approach to local government in the Russian Federation in light of current changes in legal regulation of the institution, as well as the interpretation of the place and role of local government in the system of public authority, determined by the decisions of the Russian Constitutional Court. The authors maintain that despite the organizational and functional autonomy from the mechanism of state power declared in the Russian Constitution, local government should be considered as part of a unified system of public authority, since the opposite neither reflects the objective conditions of the socio-economic, political and legal development of the Russian state and society, nor find any historical confirmation or similarities in foreign experience. The affirmation of local government’s place within a unified system of public authority presupposes a closer and well-coordinated interaction of the state and municipal levels in addressing issues of both local and national importance. The latter should also contribute to the positioning of local government as a standalone element of federative relations, which is important both for the development of municipal institutions themselves and federalism as a whole. At the same time, the authors stress that by virtue of its political and legal nature, local government requires the development of direct forms of democracy, involvement of citizens in solving local issues and the improvement of territories where citizens reside. Accordingly, the current professionalization of the governance mechanism at the general municipal level, with limited participation in the relevant processes of state representatives, should be accompanied with the development of forms of self-government and public participation at the local, submunicipal, level.

Local Government as a Form of Democracy in Russia

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.

Current problems of civil participation in the implementation of local government in Russia

The main problems of the modern institution of civil participation in the implementation of local government in Russia have been analyzed in the article. Modern effective tools and processes, in the context of “civil participation” have been described. A number of issues and problems of formation of the institute of local government has been considered The democratic nature of the local government implies, the principle of transparency of the decisionmaking system at the local level and high level of trust of the population to local governments. Based on the study of processes, taking place in the country, as well as the analysis of scientific literature on civil pariticpation issue, the author highlights the factors, influencing the level of public confidence in the activities of local governments and the decision-making process by actors in the process of interaction between the authorities and society, in terms of ensuring the democratic nature of the local power.The aim of the analysis of the process of building the system of local government, under which social activity and civil participation in the implementation of the local government requires an interdisciplinary approach - to develop effective solutions and technologies of work with citizens, local authorities, that will lead to increased transparency in decision-making and enhance public confidence in the local authorities. In consideration, that developed institute of civil participation is a complex institution, which is an indicator of the democratic principle of organization of power, at the same time requiring a more thorough analysis of the type of relationship the actor process of interaction of authorities and society and their objectives, the author puts forward several theories, whereby you can ensure the effectiveness of the process of “participation”, in the context of mainstreaming, as described by the author.In the same way modern and effective tools and techniques have been described in the article, the application of which, according to the author, will lead to greater transparency in the work of local government authorities.

Local government in Russia: de jure and de facto

The analysis of the RF Federal Law of 6 October 2003 No 131-FZ, which enshrines the general principles of the organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation, demonstrates the consistent introduction of amendments aimed at restricting the autonomy of local self-government, which clearly contradicts the constitutional provisions on local self-government. In this regard, it seems necessary to determine the presence of the lower level of public authority (local self-government), for which it is necessary to reveal the conformity of the modern realities of local self-government with constitutional provisions and normative legal acts adopted for their development, that is, correlate de jure and de facto. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the highest constitutional justice body, has a great influence on the formation of local self-government in the Russian state. It forms the legal position on the organizational, legal, competence, territorial, financial and economic foundations of local self-government. In this regard, researchers are interested in the legal positions of the RF Constitutional Court regarding the autonomy of local self-government and its relations with state authorities, which have undergone significant changes throughout the entire period of reforming local self-government. Based on the analysis of changes in the legislation on local self-government and the legal positions of the RF Constitutional Court, this article shows the inconsistency of local self-government at the present stage of its development. Thus, the author proves that there are no working mechanisms for the implementation of local self-government by the population. This article concludes that the current situation requires special attention and attitude from the state, since without purposeful changes in the state policy in the sphere of local self-government it is impossible to preserve such postulates enshrined in the Russian Constitution, as democracy and local government.

Поселенческий уровень местного самоуправления в России: общественные функции и финансовые возможности

Поселенческий уровень местного самоуправления в России: общественные функции и финансовые возможности

ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ МЕСТНОГО САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ В РЕГИОНАХ РОССИИ, "Известия Российской академии наук. Серия географическая"

The theoretical issues of territorial organization of local self-government are considered, a definition of this category is proposed. It is stated that the territorial organization of local self-government in general should correspond to the hierarchy of the prevailing settlement systems and local communities. Factors, intermediate results and processes of transformation of territorial organization of local self-government in Russia’s regions in 2009–2016 are considered in details (after the finishing of the transition period of local self-government reform). The main source of information is the Rosstat data. Forms of transformation of municipalities of the first and second territorial levels are identified. The growing practice of transforming municipal districts in urban districts and minimizing the number of settlements composed municipal districts is criticized. Examples of new forms of territorial organization of local government in Russia’s regions are given. The conclusion of the inevitable variety of regional forms of territorial organization of local self-government in modern Russia is made.

Settlement Level of Local Government in Russia: Social Functions and Financial Opportunities

Settlement Level of Local Government in Russia: Social Functions and Financial Opportunities

A Study on the Fiscal Autonomy of Local Governments in Russia

A Study on the Fiscal Autonomy of Local Governments in Russia

Municipal Reform in the Russian Federation and Putin's "Electoral Vertical"

Since President Putin came to in 2000 we have witnessed radical assault on principles and practices of federalism. More recently, Putin has turned his attention to politics at subregional level. October 2003 new federal law, On Principles of Local Self Government in Russian (hereafter, 2003 Law), adopted that seriously compromises local government autonomy.1 After discussing major features of 2003 Law and problems of its implementation, this article examines most recent round of municipal elections, which took place in 2004 and 2005. Municipal elections in many federal subjects have been far from free and fair. State control over local electoral commissions and courts have dealt serious blow to development of grassroots democracy in Russia. consolidation of democracy has also been undermined by series of laws on elections and parties that Putin adopted in wake of Beslan hostage crisis in September 2004. These new laws, ostensibly designed to strengthen Russia's party system, have, in practice, allowed United Russia to consolidate its hold over regional and local assemblies.Federalism and Local Government in Russian FederationIn theory, local governments in Russia operate outside formal state hierarchy. Article 12 of Russian Constitution states that, In Russian Federation local self-government is recognized and guaranteed. Within limits of its powers local self-government is independent. Bodies of local self-government do not form part of system of bodies of state power. However, municipalities have, in practice, been treated as third tier of state power, subordinate to regional and federal administrations.2Municipal government in Russia also operates within quasi-federal system epitomized by high levels of constitutional and political asymmetry. Thus, to fully understand local level politics, peculiarities of Russian federal system, and in particular massive powers that were ceded to federal subjects in 1990s need to be taken into account. Between 1994 and 1998 Yeltsin signed forty-six bilateral treaties with federal subjects that granted signatories number of extraconstitutional powers, including right to develop their own forms of local government. By end of Yeltsin era, highly politicized form of contract federalism had replaced constitutional federalism. The result, Campbell stresses, was not decentralisation but 'autonomisation' . . . whereby state held together by loose parade of treaties bargained between centre and individual regions.3Daniel Elazar argues that local governments in federal systems are often able to gain a substantial measure of entrenched political power by capitalizing on the spirit of noncentralisation-the spirit of federalism.4 However, in Russia's quasi-federal system, regional elites have been able to subjugate local level bodies with impunity. many of ethnic republics (e.g., Adygeya, Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Kalmykiya, Komi, North Ossetiya, Sakha, and Tatarstan), chief executives were able to carve out personal fiefdoms and to instigate highly authoritarian regimes. Local governments were subordinated to republican administrations, and republican presidents directly appointed heads of municipalities.5 Moreover, 1995 law, On Principles of Local Self-Government in Russian (hereafter, 1995 Law), not implemented in eighteen regions, and only partially in forty-three.6Thus, on eve of Putin's accession to presidency, there were major variations, across federation, in structures, functions, and powers of local governments. Indeed, degree of political and economic asymmetry at local level even higher than in regions. Regional elites often had final say over which powers would be delegated to municipalities. …