Fadeeva O. P. Evolution of municipal governance in post-soviet Russia: A rural perspective  // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №3. P. 219-243.

EDN: VQIYWF

Annotation

The new stage in the transformation of municipal governance — under the “public authority” system introduced by the latest amendments to the Russian Constitution — entails a significant shift in the interactions between various levels of government, business sector and population, which have evolved for decades. The transition to a single-tier municipal governance poses a major challenge for social-economic and everyday cultural practices in rural areas, where local self-government bodies have traditionally played a prominent role. Efforts to optimize the administrative-territorial structure by consolidating municipalities and standardizing interaction rules within the local self-government system are viewed with mixed reactions by regional and local officials and rural administration specialists. The author’s interviews during fieldwork in various Russian regions reveal a range of perspectives regarding the pros and cons of the latest stage of the municipal reform. According to some informants and the author, the potential costs and negative consequences of ongoing changes could be mitigated by flexible municipal governance models and new indicators for rural living standards, differentiated by demographic, economic, socio-cultural and geographical conditions. Monitoring public opinion and discussing findings at various stages of the reform could significantly facilitate administrative transformation and reduce potential risks.

Keywords

Local self-government, public authority, reform, two-tier, single-tier and mixed systems of municipal organization.  

About the author

Olga P. Fadeeva, PhD (Sociology), Head of the Department, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ac. Lavrentyev Prosp., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia. 
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