UDC

352.075-22(470.11)+316.472.47(045)

Authors

Lagunova Svetlana Vladimirovna
Higher School of Economics and Management, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (Arkhangelsk, Russia)
e-mail: decabr7@mail.ru

Abstract

Territorial self-government is one of the most popular forms of public participation in the local government in Russia: hence the academic interest in the work of neighbouring communities with territorial self-government implementing their own initiatives to solve local problems. Some studies indicate that the development of territorial self-government in Russia depends on whether regional authorities recognize the importance of this institution. At the same time, as the author points out, the development of territorial self-government differs not only between the regions but also between the municipalities of one and the same region. The question is how the authorities at the municipal level evaluate the significance of support for territorial self-government initiatives and whether they are ready for a systematic constructive dialogue with the public. Thus, in addition to objective factors determining the consolidation of local citizens, we should focus on the subjective component, which includes not only social factors, legal awareness and civic participation of local communities but also the attitude of municipal authorities. The results of the sociological research conducted by the author in the Arkhangelsk Region in 2010–2013 helped identify a number of problems in the development of territorial self-government as well as present and describe four models of interaction between municipal authorities and local communities: parallel coexistence, information support, mercantilism, and cooperation. In addition, the article contains specific proposals for the development of territorial self-government in the region under study.

Keywords

territorial public self-government, neighbouring community, local government, municipal authority, matters of local significance, public participation

References

1. Lagunova S.V. Institutsializatsiya territorial’nogo obshchestvennogo samoupravleniya v lokal’noy srede (na primere Arkhangel’skoy oblasti): dis. … kand. sotsiol. nauk [Institutionalization of Territorial Self-Government in the Local Environment (Arkhangelsk Region): Cand. Sociol. Sci. Diss.]. Arkhangelsk, 2013.
   
2. Kalashnikov E.V., Lagunova S.V. O problemakh i perspektivakh razvitiya territorial’nogo obshchestvennogo samoupravleniya v Arkhangel’skoy oblasti (nekotorye itogi obuchayushchikh seminarov) [On the Problems and Prospects of Development of Territorial Self-Government in the Arkhangelsk Region (Some of the Results of Training Seminars)]. Arktika i Sever, 2012, no. 7. Available at: http://www.narfu.ru/upload/uf/60b/AaN_2012_7.pdf (accessed 12 June 2014).
   
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