Nikovskaya L.I., Yakimets V.N. Municipal public policy in the context of consolidation of municipalities.Central Russian Bulletin of Social Sciences. 2023. Vol. 18. No. 5. Pp. 15-35.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present the results of a study of municipal public policy (hereinafter referred to as MPP) in the Vologda Municipal District in 2023 in the context of reforming the local self-government system in the spirit of the concept laid down in the framework of Bill No. 40361-8 On General Principles of Organizing Local Self-Government in a Unified Public Power System. The latest bill proposes a reform that centralizes local self-government (hereinafter LSG), significantly changing the principles of its territorial and organizational structure, enlarging municipalities by abolishing the settlement level and moving to a one-level LSG model; significantly reduces its powers, transferring a significant part of them to the discretion of the regions. In the system of public power created on this basis, local government can lead to the formation of a deficit in the representativeness of public interests and the final loss of its own purpose. The multilayer concept of municipal public policy (hereinafter referred to as MPP) makes it possible to judge the optimal relationship between the political and administrative properties of state and municipal power, combining administrative regulation and the use of forms of public participation of the population. Based on the index approach, features of the state of MPP institutions and mechanisms in the municipal district according to the criteria of consistency and indicators of completeness of the functionality of actors and subjects of MPP are presented, its typological features are identified and analyzed, which allow minimizing the negative consequences of the transition to a new model of the territorial and organizational structure of local authorities in the Vologda region.