Models for the organization of municipal administration under the changing federal legislation in 2013-2015

The comparative analysis of current Federal law "On general organizational principles of local government in the Russian Federation" with its previous statutory wording shows that federal legislators prefer the consistent increase of powers of state bodies in the subjects of the Russian Federation when the elections of municipal entities' heads are taken into account. Model 1: the head of a municipal entity is elected during municipal election and he/she heads the local administration (in this case the chairman of a representative body is elected by the deputies of this body). Model 2: the head of a municipal entity is elected by the deputies of a representative body from their membership and acts as its chairman (in this case the head of local administration is appointed by a representative body of a municipal entity according to the results of the competition. Despite the fact that people strongly oppose Model 2 it is being widely spread nowadays. Model 3: the head of a municipal entity is elected by the population and he/she heads a representative body in a municipal area (in this case the head of local administration is appointed by a representative body of the municipal entity according to the results of the competition). In 54 subjects of the Russian Federation the system of local government corresponds to model 2, in 13 subjects -to model 1, in 11 subjects several models are possible (only 1 and 2, only 2 and 3; in Moscow, Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions all three models are possible simultaneously. Thus, state initiatives for changing the local government organization (formation of inner -city districts, changes in the formation of municipal bodies) reflect the attempts of legislators to realize the main idea of local government: bring authorities closer to people and exercise power by people's representatives. The Federal law №136-FZ does not cancel direct election of mayors, does not unify local government throughout the country, does not establish the dictate of central power but proposes one more way of realizing the interests of the population in Russian towns and cities.

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