On Publicity of Public Finance Management in Russia

Abstract

The development of public administration in Russia determines the need to increase the level of citizen involvement in this process. So, the movement of public financial flows should be controlled not only by participants of the budget process, but also by the society. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of awareness of citizens and of their involvement in the process of managing the movement of public financial flows. In the process of the study, a group questionnaire method involving Google Docs was used. According to the results of the questionnaire (1580 citizens from 13 regions of the Russian Federation), despite the formation of an extensive regulatory field focused on ensuring the openness of the budget system of Russia and the development of tools designed to ensure the availability of budget information for all interested parties, the level of citizens' awareness and their involvement in the process of control of the public financial flows movement remain low. Instruments aimed at increasing the level of citizen involvement in managing the movement of public financial flows and publicity of management are used formally, mainly to meet the requirements of ensuring the openness of the budget adopted in the international community. Expanding the list of participants in the budget process by including civil society representatives in it and developing instruments for public management of public finances will increase the level of national consensus when choosing strategic development goals and citizens' trust in the activities of the government and state institutions.