Municipal democracy

An essential moment for the development of local self-government in Russia is a real opportunity for citizens to verify their credentials in practice and to show their political activity. In the article, the author analyzes the documents of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on the participation of citizens in the public life of cities, and the reasons for citizens to refuse to participate in self-government in the Russian Federation. One of the main reasons for the apathy of citizens is the substitution of the power of the local community by the power of the municipal bureaucracy. For the development of municipal democracy, local governments of Russian cities need to introduce European standards for the participation of citizens in local (municipal) life, developed by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.