Prerequisites and Prospects for the Reform of Local Self-Government in Russia

In October 2023, 20 years were celebrated since the adoption of Federal Law No. 131-FZ dated 06.10.2003 “On the General principles of the Organization of local Self-Government in the Russian Federation”; in January 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a new draft law on local self-government in the first reading, but for now its further consideration has been postponed. The purpose of this article is to identify the prerequisites and directions for further reform of local self-government. The article identifies trends and problems in the development of local self-government and municipalities in the 2000s and 2020s, including: reduction and liquidation of urban and rural settlements as a result of their unification and transformation of municipal districts into urban and municipal districts; preservation of low financial and economic independence of municipalities, as well as a high level of intraregional socio-economic differentiation on the against the background of the concentration of population and production in urban agglomerations and the persistence of systemic problems in the development of rural areas. Based on questionnaire surveys of heads of municipalities and residents of the Vologda Oblast, their attitude to the new reform of local self-government was revealed. In the final part of the article, a conceptual vision of the prospects for the development of local self-government in Russia is outlined.