The problem of distinguishing the concept of “direct democracy” with related categories in the context of modern Russia

The article considers the issue of distinguishing the concepts of “direct democracy” and “pure democracy” through the allocation of essential features of the basic definition. The aim of the study is to consider the consensus views of experts on the characteristics of direct democracy, allowing to differentiate it from the close but not identical categories, which is especially relevant in the context of the local government reform, in which the institutionalization of current forms of democracy and the transformation of its mechanisms take place. The methodology is based on a combination of structural and comparative analysis. The author concludes that the essential characteristics of direct (pure) democracy are: the absence of intermediaries in the form of institutions formed on the principle of representation, the mandatory nature of the generated decisions and binding to the implementation of tasks of state or municipal administration.