Local elites: are the local executives always dominate over the local legislatures?

Текст статьи.

Abstract

The article presents the outcomes of empirical study in 2 small Russian towns and one district in Perm and Ivanovo regions. The analysis of interactions between local legislatures and administrations in the three communities is based on 37 in-depth face to face interviews with local politicians, public officials, businessmen, heads of media outlets and experts. The outcomes of the study show that not in all the communities the stable domination of the local executive over the legislature takes place. In some communities we discovered obvious deviations from the basic model of relationships between the branches of the local government. Alternative patterns of relationships (“quasi-domination of local legislature”, “temporary parity under confrontation”, “alliance in the face of "external threat"”) are mainly caused by the personal factors. In one case it is due to the high authority of the head of the town who managed to perform many of the executive functions. In other town the administration was headed by inexperienced leader unable to realize the high power potential of his position. In the third case the external threat allowed to weaken the domination of the executive over the legislature.