Improving the Methodology for Assessing the Effectiveness of Local Self-Government of Municipalities of the Volgograd Region

The study reflects the principles and approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the activities of local authorities of municipalities of the second level in the Volgograd region, the most important tool for quantifying the well-being, standard of living of the population, aggregated in the form of the author’s methodology. The potential to achieve the values of performance indicators quantifies the degree of feasibility of the planned, expected values of the indicators of the municipality, interpreted as the ratio of “resistances” in relation to the achievement of the planned goals. The mechanism of the application of tools for converting the values of performance indicators is presented: coefficients (growth, achievement and resistance), potential, elements, integral values (and their degree of stability) of achievement. The achieved level of performance is analyzed. The application of the methodology provided information for the development of management decisions for the future: a high degree of stability is not observed in any of the municipalities; an average degree of stability is achieved in seven, and a moderate degree of stability is achieved in 24 municipalities; the remaining seven of the 38 municipalities have a low degree of stability. The most stable (effectively managed by local self-government bodies) municipalities of the Volgograd region are: Oktyabrsky, Chernyshkovsky, Novoanninsky, Surovikinsky; the least stable are Olkhovsky, Uryupinsky municipal districts.