Problem of the election of the head of local self-government in modern Russia: the theory and real municipal practice

The article considers using the mechanism of election of the head of self-government. This question is very significant because many Russian municipalities refused direct elections of heads of local communities. The results of Tver sociological researches (2009-2015) show that the population and representatives of municipal structures are focused on preservation of democratic elements in the system of local self-government. The author considers the refusal of direct elections of heads of municipalities as the temporary measure connected with an inefficiency of modern selective technologies, poor readiness of population for participation in the various forms of local self-government and its low level of responsibility for their own decisions.