Activity of the Chelyabinsk city council in the conditions of nep (new economic policy)

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was historical institutionalism. The work was based on Soviet legislation, local clerical and statistical documentation in the OGACHO funds (F.R-98, F.R-113, F.R-184, F.R-220). The unfolding of the system of local authorities in the years of the NEP took place in several stages. First, the system was formed at the provincial level, and then at the county, volost and city level. City councils began to manage the local economy only in the mid-1920s. Independence of the Chelyabinsk City Council was limited by the institutional framework. Due to obligations to higher local authorities and the state, the City Council could freely dispose of only part of its budget (38 %), which directly affected its economic policy. The tightness of funds forced the city authorities to actively use administrative resources, and to refuse to deal with current problems in favor of strategic ones, postponing the solution of pressing issues in the disputed area of responsibility.