Territorial Public Self-government Research Articles

Территориальное общественное самоуправление: новый взгляд на возможности и перспективы влияния на создание городской среды

The article considers the institution of territorial public self-government as a form of direct implementation by the population of local self-government in the administrative-territorial framework of the Rostov region as a whole and the municipalities included in it, in particular. Territorial public self-government currently has the makings for a new round of active development, both in the changing system of Russian local self-government as one of the hierarchical levels of its organization, and in the field of the urban environment, in which it acts as an important actor of change, as well as a tool in consolidating and implementing these changes.

Нормативно закрепленные инструменты стимулирования низовой гражданской активности

The article describes the results of a study aimed at identifying normatively established tools for stimulating the development of positive civic engagement. The authors present the results of a comparative study of the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including examples of the most successful stimulation of volunteerism, charity, and territorial public self-government. The authors put forward the thesis that for the successful development of volunteerism, charity, territorial public self-government and other systemic institutions of civil society, an important factor is the state of the non-profit sector of the region itself, which the author reveals using the example of the Yaroslavl region.

Институт наставничества в социокультурном пространстве Русского Севера и Русской Арктики: традиции и новации

At the XV Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia, held in St. Petersburg at the end of June 2023, special attention was paid to the discussion of topical theoretical and practical problems related to scientific reflections and social practices of the institute of mentoring in the cultures of the Rus-sian North. The report presented by the authors of this article at the Congress outlined the scientific results of research on the traditional institution of mentoring in the Old Believer societies of Karelians, Komi, Russian Ust-Tsilems, the “institute of grandmothers” in Kenozerye and Onega Pomorie, the ritual “mentoring” functions of Nenets shamans and Zyryan sorcerers, public practices of the spiritual guidance of the laity in the parochial community of the North Russian mir-zemstvo. The central place in the article is given to the presentation of the scientific results of the analysis of the forms, methods and directions of the mentoring activities of the Kenozerskiy National Park, which, relying on the ethno-cultural heritage of the traditional societies of the Ozernyy district, acts as a reference methodological school-laboratory, implementing a wide range of mentoring research and educational practices aimed at transformation of local territories into a socio-cultural space of creative dialogue and cooperation between the Park and local communities, training of leaders and activists of territorial public self-government (TPS), elaboration of regional strategy and local programs of spatial development of the Northern macro-region.

Территориальное общественное самоуправление: история и современность, перспективы совершенствования законодательства

The article examines, taking into account the amendments and additions made to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020, the key characteristics of territorial public self-government, history of the development of legislation regulating social relations related to it, starting with the provisions of the USSR Law “On the general principles of local self-government and local economy in the USSR” of 1990, the Law of the RSFSR “On Local Self-Government in the RSFSR” of 1991, the federal laws “On the General Principles of Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” of 1995 and 2003. The legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation related to territorial public self-government are also analyzed. Various points of view of legal scholars on the relationship between local self-government and territorial public self-government are studied. The subject of this study is also the right to exercise territorial public self-government and the article concludes this legal possibility is inherently a fundamental right within which the constitutional right to exercise local self-government is exercised. In addition, the author came to the conclusion the institutions of territorial public self-government should be given the status of public legal entity.

Территориальное общественное самоуправление: мотивирующая роль законодателя

The article discusses the impact of the norms of law on the establishment and activity of territorial public self-government. It is shown that in the absence of the obligation of citizens to create this form of self-government, the presence of targeted normative regulation plays a motivating role in the creation and organization of the work of the association.

Трансформация системы целей и ценностей местного самоуправления в контексте формирования публичной власти в Российской Федерации

The article is devoted to the study of the transformation of the goals and values of local governments in the context of the formation of public authority in Russian Federation. Within the framework of the study, the issues of the conceptual contradiction between the goals of the activities of local governments and public authorities are addressed. The prospects for the development of the goals of local governments and the emergence of new values in the context of the functioning of the system of public authorities are analyzed. Proposals are made to eliminate conceptual contradictions in the development of the goals and values of local governments and public authorities. The issue of developing the values of local self-government through the institution of territorial public self-government, which acts as a condition for the formation of a civil society with inherent characteristics, is considered.

Правовая и социальная природа территориального общественного самоуправления и развитие муниципальной демократии в условиях реформирования местного самоуправления

The article examines scientific approaches to understanding the legal and social nature of territorial public self-government in domestic jurisprudence and municipal government, reveals the directions and some problems of the development of municipal democracy in the context of the implementation of constitutional reform and reform of local self-government in Russia.

TERRITORIAL PUBLIC SELF-GOVERNMENT: REGIONAL EXPERIENCE

Theoretical concepts that make it possible to describe certain models of local self-government focus on the community as the main subject of local processes. Russian legislation provides for the legal fixation of the community in the form of territorial public self-government. The article is a review and comparative analysis of the practice of local self-government carried out by the population in the form of territorial public self-government. An assessment of social performance allows us to make the assumption that territorial restrictions on the implementation of self-government entail a decrease in the initiative activity of residents. Restrictions are a consequence of the refusal by municipal authorities to perceive territorial public self-government as an equal participant in local self-government.

АССОЦИАЦИИ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОГО ОБЩЕСТВЕННОГО САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ: ПРАВОВЫЕ ОСНОВЫ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ И ПОТЕНЦИАЛ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОЙ КОНСОЛИДАЦИИ ДЛЯ РАЗВИТИЯ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ

The article discusses the legal nature of associations of territorial public self-government and summarizes the practice of their organization and activity; examines the interaction of ssociations, public authorities, and local self-government authorities regarding the federal districts; identifies regional features of the establishment and activity of territorial public self-government associations; studies and considers legal acts regulating the activities of associations and their statutory documents, as well as directions and types of associations’ activities; and studies the court practice on disputes with associations. Territorial public self-govern ment associations play an important role in consolidating regional and local communities and involving them in solving problems of territorial development. The activities of regional territorial public self-government associations are systematized. The general approaches of territorial public self-government associations to the issues of community involvement in solving territorial development problems are presented, some of which can be used in model legal acts.

НОРМАТИВНАЯ РЕГЛАМЕНТАЦИЯ НИЗОВОЙ ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ АКТИВНОСТИ В СУБЪЕКТАХ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

Grassroots civic engagement is a practice initiated voluntarily by citizens to solve locally significant social problems. The most common forms of civic engagement today are volunteerism, non-profit organization activities, initiative budgeting, territorial public self-government, and charity. The study of these practices from the regulatory point of view is important, especially for creating opportunities for effective communication mechanisms between government and society in order to make socio-political decisions and reduce the severity of local problems. The study aims to identify the features of regulation of the main forms of grassroots civic activity in the constituent territories of Russia. The authors use content analysis of 1144 normative acts of 85 Russian constituencies regulating grassroots civic activity based on the Consultant Plus database with subsequent processing in the IBM SPSS Statistics program. In consequence, modern approaches to understanding grassroots civic activity are summarized, the regulatory framework for regulating grassroots civic activity in the Russian regions is analyzed, and relevant examples of regulation at the regional level are highlighted. The results show that the most legal acts are adopted regarding the forms of grassroots civic activity aimed at solving local development issues and socially significant problems. The main initiator of normative acts is the executive authorities of the regions.

Employment of the Disabled as a Mechanism for the Development of the Agrosphere and Rural Territories

The article reveals the problems of vocational guidance and employment of people with disabilities living in rural areas. Potential opportunities for expanding the labor participation of disabled people in the agro-industrial sector and other sectors of the rural economy are considered. The role of education in stimulating the labor activity of disabled people is revealed. The issues of organizing retraining and advanced training of disabled people living in rural areas are considered. Arguments are given that the involvement of people with disabilities in labor activity is one of the mechanisms for the development of the agrosphere and rural areas. The authors conclude that in order to perform the career guidance function, organizations of additional vocational education need to interact with employment service bodies, executive bodies of state authority of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local self-government bodies, bodies of territorial public self-government, industry associations operating in rural areas. The measures mentioned in the article, according to the authors, will stimulate the economic activity of disabled people; promote vocational education for disabled people and their employment, create conditions for the development of new forms of staff training and retraining in the countryside, support traditional types of agricultural activities and businesses, accelerate the introduction of new activities and contribute to the stable integrated development of rural areas.

Territorial Public Self-Government in Municipal Entities of the Constituent Entities of the Siberian Federal District

Today, the issues of involving citizens in decision-making process of public authorities have become the main vector determining development of democratic countries of the world. Most of all, this trend is felt at the level of the power closest to the population — at the level of local self-government that often uses the institute of territorial public self-government (TPSG) in Russia. The paper defines the state of the legal institution under consideration in Russia using the Siberian Federal District as the case study. Based on the results of the analysis of legislation, the collected material on TPSG (concerning the number, forms of TPSG work, forms of interaction between TPSG and public authorities, etc.), identified TPSG‘s organizational and operational problems, the author concludes that in the state conditions have been created that promote TPSG formation. Consistent resolution of the tasks will allow us to move to a new level of engaging the population in participation in local government.

Municipal Procedural Activity: Concept and Content

The paper presents the author’s vision of the content of municipal procedural activity, the grounds for its separation from the structure of general municipal activities carried out by local self-government entities when solving issues of local importance and other issues enshrined in Federal Law No. 131‑FZ of 06.10.2003 «On General Principles of Local Self-Government Organization in the Russian Federation». The author proposes to consider municipal procedural activity as dynamic purposeful, normatively conditioned activity of local self-government bodies carried out by adopting them in the development of the procedural norms of municipal legal procedural acts. These are to be contained in the laws and applying procedures that ensure the implementation of their powers to resolve issues of local significance and other normatively conditioned issues. This activity also means to include ensuring the implementation of local self-government and participation of bodies of territorial public self-government and other public associations. The author believes that the application of municipal procedures in practice is a legal condition for local selfgovernment bodies to resolve issues of local significance and other regulatory issues. Municipal procedural activity is an integral subspecies of municipal activity, which includes constituent, law-making, control, personnel, financial and other activities carried out by subjects of local self-government. The realization of municipal procedural activity is conditioned by the provisions of Part 3 of Article 132 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (as amended in 2020), which established the need for interaction between local self-government bodies and state authorities for the most effective solution of tasks in the interests of the population living in the relevant territory. The need to solve this problem increases the importance of scientific research on the problems of improving municipal procedural activity as a subspecies of procedural support for the activities of local self-government bodies.

Территориальное общественное самоуправление как инструмент вовлечения населения в решение вопросов местного значения и развития комфортного пространства жизнедеятельности (на примере г. Хабаровска)

Development of the territorial public self-government (TPS) in the city of Khabarovsk testifies to the quite high rates: the city of Khabarovsk is the leader in terms of the number of TPS among the municipalities of the region; the number of informed Khabarovsk residents about the possibilities of TPS has increased; the number of Khabarovsk residents involved in TPS activities has increased; TPS of the city is characterized by the annual growth of implemented initiative socially significant projects; annual and significant growth in the volume of both attracted budget funds and the investment of citizens' own funds on the co-financing terms. At the same time, the potential for development of TPS in Khabarovsk is significant and is connected, first of all, with the further development of informing the population, increase in the municipal budget financing of the TPS development program in the city, creation of the TPS School as an effective educational platform for the experience exchange and preparation of the successful socially significant projects. In general, it should be noted that the TOS support programs are one of the most successful tools for involving citizens in solving issues of the local importance. Development of 500 TPS by 2025 is a strategic task of the Khabarovsk city administration as a part of implementation of the Concept «Development of territorial public self-government in Khabarovsk until 2025.

Issues of Public Awareness about the Activities of Territorial Public Self-government in Solving Issues of Urban Environment Improvement.

In a modern city, the role of interaction between local governments and the population is increasing. The author considers in detail territorial public self-government (CBT) as an important form of public participation in solving issues of local importance, in particular, landscaping. With the right organization, this institute has a huge potential for involving residents in solving issues of local importance, in particular in the field of urban improvement. The prospects for the development of this institution largely depend on the awareness and involvement of the population in this form of self-government. The low level of public awareness is considered as a factor constraining the development of territorial public self-government. The article presents the results of a survey of residents of the city of Tyumen, which demonstrate a low level of awareness of the population about the activities of CBT. These studies confirmed the need to increase the level of knowledge about the role and tools of CBT among citizens. As a solution to the problem of the existing imbalance between the high potential of CBT and the low level of awareness of the population about its work, the author suggests a number of measures, such as the creation of specialized Internet portals, communities in social networks; the use of social advertising in the media and city events to popularize the activities of CBT. The information base will create an infrastructure for realizing the potential of CBT, will make it possible to identify and implement socially significant initiatives of citizens.

Initiative Improvement in Saint-Petersburg: from Local Community Art towards Tactical Urbanism

The article summarizes the preliminary results of the analysis of public initiatives in the field of landscaping in St. Petersburg. In order to systematize the variety of research approaches and assessments of interested persons authors used the methods of source analysis and generalization (grouping) of assessments and analogies in relation to the objects and phenomena under consideration.The practical part of the study consisted in the formation of an array of data and a bank of cases in the field of grassroots initiatives to improve the urban environment and the formation of public spaces. Based on the data obtained, there was created a map of the activity of urban communities, as well as a heat map, illustrating the foci of concentration of the social capital of the city. As the analytical tools authors used models of joint actions and cooperation, research methods of the theory of public goods and behavioral economics, as well as the method of geoinformation analysis.As a unifying term for the phenomena under consideration, the authors propose the term “initiative improving”, meaning a spontaneously emerging and developing form of civic activity at the place of residence using self-organization and self-financing tools. The range of revealed facts of initiative landscaping varies from negatively perceived ‘local community art’ (a form of naive and artisanal improvement of the space around a residential building) to initiatives of residents to restore and form public facilities approved by the majority (restoration of entrances of historical buildings, lost historical elements, green spaces). Intermediate forms in this regard are initiatives within the framework of territorial public self-government, festive events and temporary facilities. The concept that allows us to describe the most constructive format is M. Lydon's “tactical urbanism” — the theory of “small affairs” in the field of urban development.The novelty of the presented approach consists in the systematization of the facts of initiative improvement (including negative ones) and their integration into the general logic of modern urban development against the background of currently prevailing approaches based on the allocation of the decisive role of professionals and experts in this process.

Территориальное общественное самоуправление в документах стратегического планирования

The article studies and systematizes the trends in the institutional development of territorial public self-government in the course of reforming the territorial foundations of local self-government in Russia, as well as the features of reflecting these trends in strategic planning documents adopted by state authorities and local governments. It is proved that the legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation mainly establish a system of institutions that ensure the development and integration of territorial public self-government within the subject of the Russian Federation, the delimitation of powers in the field of development of territorial public self-government, measures of state support for territorial public self-government. Municipal programs for the development of TPS are more diverse both in content and in their legal form, namely, there are three approaches to building such programs: TPS development as part of the program for the development of civil society institutions as a whole; development programs with NGOs and TPS; development programs exclusively TPS. At the same time, the latest trend in the legal regulation of territorial public self-government is its recognition as a subject - a participant in the relations of strategic development of the municipality.

How Social Infrastructure Is Co-Produced by Local Communities in Russia

ABSTRACT In economics, the co-production of public goods by local communities is considered a productive way to compensate for the shortcomings of public administration. The article describes the practice of implementing territorial public self-government (TPSG) community projects for the co-production of social urban infrastructure. Based on case studies of local communities in the city of Kirov and data on other Russian regions, I demonstrate that the effects of co-production can be multidirectional. The study draws conclusions about the conditions for the occurrence of TPSGs. The research demonstrates that TPSGs occur when three conditions (vectors) occur in society: civic responsibility, civic helplessness, and paternalism. When the government is incapable of meeting all its obligations, TPSGs are a response to the demand for high-quality social infrastructure. Under these conditions, the government encourages and subsidizes the formal self-organization of citizens. However, although many economists praise the work of TPSGs, there are some downsides. First, the executive government uses TPSGs to “pass on” its responsibilities to citizens and make up for the budget deficit. Second, the government gains the support of the population, which is expressed in the approval of and trust in existing, often ineffective political institutions.

The current state of the implementation of territorial public self-government in the municipality Seversky district

The current state of the implementation of territorial public self-government in the municipality Seversky district

Assessment of local self-government reform with intercity division of Samara in 2015–2020 from perspective of its participants and the population

A reform of local self-government was initiated in Samara in 2015 through the creation of formally independent municipalities in the regional center – those were the intracity districts that had their own representative bodies, Councils of Deputies and the heads of intracity districts elected by them. This model was a part of federal legislation, but was only implemented in three cities of Russia – Chelyabinsk, Makhachkala and Samara. The rest of the subjects of the Federation refused it. Thus, the implementation of the reform was, in fact, an experiment. In 2019–2020, before the duties of the elected first convocation Councils of Deputies of the Samara inner-city districts were completed, the author, who at that time was the chairman of the Committee of Local Self-Government of the Samara State Duma, initiated an analysis of the results of the reform, which gave a lot of factual material. One of the areas of analysis was an anonymous survey of deputies of Samara district councils, heads of territorial public self-government (TPS) and a sociological survey of the population of Samara about the effectiveness of the created model of local self-government. It became obvious that the reform did not achieve its declared goals – bringing authorities closer to the people. The survey results are presented in this publication.