Civic chambers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in ensuring representation of the interests of the population

The article considers the representative function of Civic Chambers in the subjects of the Russian Federation, representing the interests of the population in the structure of local and regional authorities. The analysis of the nature and effectiveness of representation is carried out through the prism of such aspects as the process of forming the composition of chambers, the agenda of their activities and the nature of reporting to the population. The source base of the analysis is documents posted on the electronic websites of the Civic Chambers of Voronezh and Yaroslavl, Samara and Saratov. The documents show that the activities of Civic Chambers are important to discuss a wide range of topical social problems of development of territories and regional communities, but there is insufficient focus on civil society, cooperation of public associations with state and municipal authorities. The authors draw some conclusions, namely: regional Civic Chambers are highly dependent on the executive authorities, their independence remains at a low level, respectively, the level of consideration for the interests and initiatives of civic organizations and the population, leaves much to be desired. The article recommends increasing the authority and efficiency of Civic Chambers in the regions of the Russian Federation.