Municipal democracy: on the issue of participation of citizen in local (city) self-government

A real possibility for citizens to try their powers, to show their political activity is crucial for development of local self-government in Russia. In the article the author analyses the documents of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which cover citizens' participation in public life of cities and towns, and citizens' non-participation in self-government in Russian Federation. One of the main reasons of apathy of citizens is the substitution of the power of local community by the power of municipal bureaucracy. For development of municipal democracy local self-government bodies should introduce European standards of the participation of citizens in local (municipal) life, elaborated by Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.