Collective practices and potential for civic participation of local community (sociological research in Russian regions)

In the context of interregional socio-economic imbalances in Russia, the importance of searching for new factors of territorial development is increasing. These factors are connected not only to economics, but also to the socio-cultural sphere. In this regard, one of the key areas of solving the internal problems of the country and its regions is the civic participation development. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by applying an integrated approach that takes into account the analysis of the population’s inclusion in socially useful activities both in interaction with the authorities (vertical interaction) and in the space of daily life (horizontal interaction). The purpose of the work is to assess the potential and level of local community involvement in collective practices of civic participation. The method of collecting empirical information is a quantitative sociological measurement conducted by VolRC RAS in 2019 on the territory of three entities of the Northwestern Federal District: the Vologda and Pskov Oblasts, and the Republic of Karelia. The author determines that population still shows a low level of direct involvement in collective practices of participation locally. However, the analysis of the results causes speaking about the qualitative diversity of civil initiatives, horizontal communication links: practices aimed at improving local territories, as well as various forms of helping (solidarity) behavior are widely used. The article demonstrates that, on average, the level of value attitudes toward participation (value form) is higher than the indicators of real participation (political and social forms). This allows supposing that the potential for constructive unification, solidarity of the local community in solving socially significant problems is concentrated at the level of daily life. The researcher concludes about the territorial unevenness of the level and potential of civil participation. In particular, the Pskov Oblast significantly exceeded the performance level of the Republic of Karelia and the Vologda Oblast especially, although it is the Pskov Oblast that is negatively distinguished by the general level of welfare (HDI) from other entities of the Northwestern Federal District. Therefore, the author has not confirmed the hypothesis which holds that the higher the well-being level of the local community, the more developed its involvement in collective practices of civic participation and the higher the readiness for such participation. A more in-depth analysis of the factors and barriers of collective self-organization of the local community in the territories’ development is a promising direction for further research on the problem.