Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 14th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview VIII. Working Group on Degree Programmes of Public Admin... Author(s) Lydia Goverdovskaya International Market Institute Samara Russian Federation Lidia Goverdovskaya,Dean Public and Municipal Administration Departmrnt.Denis Berezovsky, Head of Chair Public and Municipal Administration Department Title Local Self-Governance Development in Russian History File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Historically, development of the RF local self-governance clearly displays evolution of the citizens’ self-governance, struggle of the people for their rights to settle issues of local significance. In the mid of the XIX century, large-scale national reforms were implemented including the Zemstvo Reform (1864) and the Urban Reform (1870). Actualization of the reforms resulted in unprecedented for the tsarist Russia system of communal self-governance – independent of the state. After 1917, situation in the country changed radically. Soviet system came to take the place of people’s communal self-governance. Local Soviets were established. They reported to higher soviets and formed executive committees (ispolkoms) with the purpose of carrying out executive-and-regulatory authorities. Thereby, during the whole soviet period in Russian history local governance existed as a structural element of public administration. Restitution of people’s self-governance at the local level took place in the early 90-s of the XX century with passing of the new RF Constitution, which legally fixed independence and organizational severalty of the local self-governance within the system of public administration. In 1995, the Local Self-Governance Act was passed providing establishment of the so-called municipal entities (towns and rayons) in the Russian Federation jurisdictions. Implementation of this Act did not lead to expected outcomes and failed to provide the population with tangible opportunity to participate in local self-governance. Elimination of these defects of the legal framework became major task of the government on the way of reforming the local self-governance. It was in 2003, when passing of a new Local Self-Governance Act marked beginning of a new reform stage. A new system of local self-governance is expected to come into being over the period of 2005-2009. New municipal entities (referred to as urban and rural communities) are being formed within the boundaries of existing towns and rayons. Any community with the population exceeding 100 residents is entitled to become an independent municipal entity. The Samara oblast is among the reform leaders. During 2005, the oblast territory gave rise to 304 urban and rural communities; head officials of these communities and representative bodies’ deputies were elected in the communities in October 2005. All in all, more than three thousand deputies and local self-governance elective officials occupied their offices in the Samara oblast. Communities draft their local budgets designed to become a real financial tool of local self-governance; property assets owned by the communities are also specified. Realization of the reform requires significant organizational and financial resources. Regional authorities and local self-governance bodies (of the already existing towns and rayons) take over the main commitments in terms of the Act enforcement. There are a lot of issues demanding long-term and laborious efforts. Specifically, one of the crucial issues to be solved in the coming time is the issue of adequate separation of public and municipal assets as well as land title of ownership for communities and rayons. Another issue of no less importance is related to sources of local budgeting. Pursuant to the new legal framework, major budget revenues shall be generated by funds collected via regional and municipal foundations of financial assistance to communities; there must be also local sources of forming the budget. It was acknowledged at the national level that major priority of the local self-governance reform in Russia is training, retraining, and advanced training of local self-governance bodies’ staff. There was proposed a number of urgent organizational and financial measures as to training of personnel for municipal authorities.
