Structural and Financial Aspects of Local Government Reform in Russia. 30 Years of Experience

Abstract

International practices show that for an effective development of society, it is necessary to find a consensus of the interests of the local community and the country. This is the reason why the low level of autonomy of local self-government in modern Russia is a significant problem, as it does not allow local governments and citizens to become active partici­pants and initiators of transformations carried out at the municipal level. The study, carried out using the historical method of scientific know­ledge, made it possible to analyze the thirty years of Russian experience in the making and reform of local self-government (LSG), to structure the prerequisites and identify five main stages of reform, which differ in the pace and content of reform transformations. In the course of the study, it was revealed that constitutional changes, while remaining formally neutral to local self-government, will require amendments of fe­deral legislation for their implementation, which can give rise to a number of latent threats and undermine the principle of structural isolation and independence of local self-government bodies. In general, over the years of reforms, the legislative strengthening of the powers and rights of local self-government did not find adequate financial support, the real results of the reform are very different from the declared goals. The author substantiated proposals for improving the socio-economic component of the reform in the framework of the evolutionary approach.