Assessing the performance of local administration: From theory to practice

Evaluation of the local administration activity remains one of the most "problematic" categories. Within the framework of this category, the purpose and costs of improving the quality of municipal services provided to the population of the subordinate territory are determined. The aim of the article is to develop the conceptual foundations for constructing an assessment of the activities of the local administration apparatus of the municipality and its divisions. The subject of the study is the institutional and substantive potential of various approaches to assessing the activities of the local administration. The article presents theoretical, methodological and empirical results of assessing the activities of the local administration of the municipality. The hypothesis of the study is that the conceptual foundations for assessing the activities of the local administration determine the logical composition and stable, regular socio-economic relationships of the factors-prospects of the effectiveness of its activities, causing the transition from its integral assessment to a differentiated one. The methodology of the study is based on the theoretical analysis of the normative and legislative concept of assessing the activities of local government bodies, scientific works on assessing the activities of municipal government bodies. The empirical basis was the analysis of statistical data on the activities of territorial structural divisions of the Novosibirsk City Hall, generated within the framework of automated information systems, accumulated in the municipal and federal state information system for the coordination; primary information on the activities of territorial structural divisions of the City Hall; information from the websites of structural divisions of the City Hall; other federal and regional information systems with legally significant information. The scientific novelty lies in the clarification and substantiation of theoretical and identification of applied imperatives for assessing the activities of the local administration based on the factors-prospects of its effectiveness. This made it possible, on the basis of the map of factors-prospects for the effectiveness of activities, to identify and predict favorable opportunities and risks for harmonizing the trajectory of strategic development of the activities of Novosibirsk's local administration in 2020-2022 and a stable improvement in the quality of working life of the population of the subordinate territory. The prospects that open up in this regard dictate the need for further understanding and competent organization of the architecture of assessing the activities of local administration, which allows obtaining relevant information for making management decisions aimed at increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of the local government system by improving the quality of life in the municipality. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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