Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 27th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG3: Public Administration Reform in CEE and CA Author(s) Tigran Zanko The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Moscow Russian Federation Title Reorganization of Federal Executive Authorities: Comparative Analysis of Russia and the USA File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Tigran Zanko Abstract The article has an aim of comprehensive comparative analysis of approaches to the process of reorganization of federal executive authorities in the Russian Federation and the United States of America. Different legal frameworks significantly influence the logic and intensity of federal executive authorities transformation. One of the key features of the administrative legal framework of the federal executive authorities of the Russian Federation is that the federal law "On executive authorities of the Russian Federation" that is foreseen by the Constitution has not been adopted for over 20 years, and their system and structure are regulated by legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation. As a result, during the period 2004-2018 approximately 60 decrees of the President of the Russian Federation that modify the system and structure of executive authorities have been adopted. So, based on this figure it can be easily calculated that on average every 85 days the structure of the federal executive authorities faces changes: executive authorities are established, abolished, merged, reformed, renamed or change their subordination. Whereas in the USA starting from 1984 to the present, power to reorganize federal executive bodies has not been granted to the President of the United States. Thus, in the United States the powers to reorganize federal executive bodies are given to Congress and, therefore, a complex legislative procedure is required for any reorganization of executive authorities. As a result, since 2002 after establishing the Department of Homeland Security no federal executive department has been established or abolished in the United States. Summing up the abovementioned development tendencies it can be concluded that the structure of the federal executive authorities in Russia is characterized by a fairly high rate of transformations taking place despite of the fact that there is a certain level of political stability within the country. Obviously, public administration must be characterized by long-term goals and a stable apparatus for achieving them. Thus, one of the ways to improve the quality of reforms, reduce the unreasonably high rate of changes, ensure consistent and successive reform in the system and structure of the federal executive authorities of the Russian Federation is to regulate the executive branch by means of law that would also lead to more effective functioning of the mechanics of checks and balances.
