THE "SOVIET" LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM IN RUSSIA AND ITS SPECIFICS

Abstract

The article is devoted to identifying the specifics of the “Soviet” system of local government in Russia. The aim of the work is to reveal the distinguishing features of the "Soviet" system of local government, to carry out a comparative analysis of the local government in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia to identify the level of their similarity and difference. In other words, we will try to answer the question to which extent the “Soviet” local government system is Soviet. The work is based on an institutional approach, i.e. approach to study the political and legal systems functioning, with the focus on formal institutions. The latter are understood in the classical sense, i.e. as organizations. As a research method, comparativism has been chosen, allowing to identify the specific features of the so-called Soviet local self-government system against the background of the Soviet local government system. Along with comparative analysis method, the authors used the general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction. The research findings demonstrate that the “Soviet” system of local self-government existing in Russia does not just have little in common with the Soviet system of local government, but they are completely opposite not only in terms of standards, but also in spirit and content. Scientific novelty. A comparative analysis of the Soviet system of local governance and the “Soviet” system of local self-government has been carried out, and a conclusion is made about their different specific features.