Social activity as a factor in the formation and development of local self-government

The article is devoted to the analysis of the involvement of the population in the process of formation of local self-government, as well as issues of interaction between management structures and self-government in modern Russia. According to the authors, the ongoing reforms of local self-government have not led to a balance between central and local authorities and faced insufficient efficiency of the LSG bodies and the weakness of their human resources. The authors focus on the problems of local self-government institutions in small towns of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, which have preserved relatively high living standards and developed social infrastructure. According to the authors' reasoned opinion, the existing model of local self-government is not ready to become a tool for increasing social activity of the population. The authors come to the conclusion that today local self-government bodies are not only completely dependent on the regional authorities, but also do not see the need to rely on the active part of the local population, referring to the unwillingness of citizens to participate in local self-government. Such an approach significantly complicates the development of local self-government as an institution that ensures the effective solution of local issues by the population. The authors of the article emphasize that the current state of local self-government significantly complicates the implementation of control by local communities and, as a result, hinders the overcoming of the main shortcomings of modern Russian government.