“For outstanding services to the city”: awarding the title of Honorary Citizen of the City by Municipalities of Siberia (based on materials from Irkutsk)

The main purpose of this research is to analyze the practice of awarding the title of Honorary Citizen of the City by Siberian municipalities. The issue is considered on the example of the Irkutsk City Duma. Among the provincial and regional centers of Siberia, Irkutsk was distinguished by the largest number of Honorary Citizens of the City. The Duma passed 22 resolutions on the award of the title. This allowed Irkutsk to be singled out as a research model. The award of a title is analyzed using the concept of an award as a social relationship. Office records and regulatory materials have become the main sources for this research. The article examines Irkutsk city's corps of Honorary Citizens in terms of its quantitative, socio-professional and gender characteristics. Factors influencing the selection for the award are highlighted. It is emphasised that the lack of clear criteria for awarding the title of Honorary Citizen has led to a variety of its interpretations by municipalities and created a unique situation with regard to the free choice of reasons for awarding this or that person. In this respect, the awarding of the title became a kind of channel for representing the interests of local society. In addition, the place of municipalities in the system of public administration determined the unique role of the municipalities themselves as an awarding entity. Giving a title to a minister, governor-general, or governor was an indicator of a high level of justified expectations of the city's public regarding their activities and leadership style as representatives of the regional and central authorities. The criteria for awarding representatives of the city society were outstanding facts of service to the city. It is proved that the Irkutsk Duma's ideas about the essence of the title of Honorary Citizen, the criteria for its awarding have not acquired the features of an integral system with a set of stable characteristics. The awarding of the title throughout the entire period of its existence remained situational in nature and was closely connected with the process of politicisation of the Duma. The authors conclude that the title of Honorary Citizen of the City and the practice of assigning it by the Duma were contradictory, but testified to the growing importance of city self-government as a sphere of public self-organization of the local community. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References