City management in Russia: conditions for effective work

The study shows the importance and danger of the risks when borrowing foreign management systems, the impact of these risks on the effectiveness of work is noted. The aim of the article is to analyze the compliance of the Russian socio-political reality with the necessary requirements for the effective work of the Institute of city management. To achieve this goal, a brief analysis of the historical prerequisites for city management emergence in the United States is presented; based on these prerequisites the authors derived the two fundamental requirements increasing the chances of city managers’ productive work: high civic activity of the population and developed horizontal ties between citizens. The authors analyze if the Russian urban reality corresponds to these requirements and come to the conclusion that the discrepancy between the proposed requirements for the implementation of the Institute of city management can lead to the deformation of the interaction system between municipal authorities and the urban population. A paternalistic concept of interaction between population and authorities is considered; it is concluded that communication of the power and the population is implemented in the framework of the “patronage-clientele” model. Due to the discrepancy between the Russian model of interaction between the government and the people to the requirements described above, there is a high probability of transformation of the Institute of city management and its acquisition of characteristics that in the short and medium term can have a negative impact not only on the work of municipal authorities, but also on the interaction of the population with the government. In conclusion, the two alternative ways of overcoming this problem are formulated.