| Abstract: |
The results of survey, Municipal Governance in Modern Russia, was conducted in
2003 – 2004 by the Institute for Urban Economics (IUE), are presented in the
paper. The primary goal of the research is to take an inventory of the
experience accumulated by the cities in the field of managing local
development, focusing on such important parameters as local leaders’ awareness
of new management technologies and popularity of such technologies, activity
of municipalities at inter-municipal level, technical equipment of
administrations. The study of the present status of municipal governance in
Russia is all the more important now, with the beginning of a critically new
period in the development of Russian cities. Internal and external factors of
various nature determine the beginning of this period. On the one hand,
relative economic stability in the country and experience accumulated over the
years enabled many cities to turn at last from current problems and
institutional reforms to strategic planning of their development. On the other
hand, the system of local self-governance itself is being transformed
drastically by the state – both in terms of territorial organization and
municipal powers and interaction between different levels of government.
Further transformation is determined by the new version of the Federal Law, On
the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Governance in the
Russian Federation, passed on October 6, 2003 (#131-FZ). The law will fully
come into force on January 1, 2006, but preparatory work is already under way
in Russian regions. The following main conclusions can be drawn, based on the
survey results. 1.New advanced technologies of municipal governance and
instruments of socio-economic development have passed the phase of pilot
implementation and are now being disseminated on a mass scale. 2.Network of
inter-municipal contacts has become a reality and is functioning actively.
3.Computerization of local administrations and information access of city
residents have reached a rather high level. 4.Local self-governments are still
faced with their traditional problems, first of all, finances and personnel.
5.Population size is not a decisive factor in institutional development of
Russian cities. 6.Almost all sample municipalities are familiar with the new
version of the law, On the General Principles of the Organization of Local
Self-Governance in the Russian Federation. |