Territorial public self-government as a development institution at the municipal level

Under the conditions of insufficient financial and economic independence of Russia’s municipalities, greater importance is attached to various forms of people’s self-organization created for the purpose of participating in municipal administration, in the implementation of projects and activities that ensure the achievement of strategic goals and objectives of territorial development with minimum cost. One such form is territorial public self-government (TPSG); but, despite its effectiveness, it is not widespread in Russian regions. This is due both to the passivity of the population and to the fact that the status of TPSG has not been established clearly in the system of local government. That is why it is very important to study the best practices of organization and functioning of TPSG and substantiate its role as a development institution at the municipal level. The present work uses the example of Vologda city and several RF subjects to show that TPSG can solve many local issues (in the sphere of social protection, improvement of territories, promotion of comfortable living, etc.). It is a really effective form of people’s participation in the management of development of territories. However, in order to achieve the greatest social and economic effect, it is necessary that TPSG receive state support through specially developed programs to co-finance the projects within the framework of territorial public self-government. In this regard, the authors of the present paper offer a conceptual scheme and an algorithm of functioning of TPSG as a development institution at the municipal level and provide recommendations to the authorities about the forms of its support (in particular, the establishment of a council for the development of TPSG under the head of the municipal formation).