Population involvement in territorial public self-government in Vologda

A high level ofcivic engagement contributes to improving the citizens’ quality of life and territorial development, as it contributes to solving social, environmental and household problems from the bottom up. Active civic participation includes many different forms, one of which is territorial public self-government (TPS). This institute begins the history of its formation in the 90s and is dynamically developing at the present time. TPS has become an increasingly effective and meaningful type ofcivic engagement in recent years. It unites residents, allows them to attract funding for the implementation of their initiatives, and also gives them the opportunity to take an active part in the municipality’s political life. The relevance of the study is due to the importance of public participation in TPS activities in the formation of public spaces in the daily lives of citizens. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the study of civil activity through the prism of territorial public self-government using a sociological survey. The aim of the study is to identify the awareness and interest of Vologda residents in TPS activities. We use general scientific methods and a sociological survey to achieve this goal. The theoretical basis of the research was the scientific literature of Russian and foreign researchers on the development of civil society and TPS. The empirical base of the study was made up of data from a sociological survey of Vologda residents devoted to assessing the involvement of citizens in the activities of TPS, as well as monitoring public opinion of the National Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We revealed that among the respondents, the vast majority knows about the activities of territorial public self-government. More than half of the respondents receive information about TPS activities through social networks and the Internet. We concluded that approximately the same proportion of respondents (51% and 49%, respectively) are willing and unwilling to participate in TPS activities. In conclusion, we proposed recommendations to improve the activities of territorial public self-government in the Vologda City urban district.