Makarkin Sergey V.

The definitions of the "municipality" concept are analyzed. Historical aspects of municipalities emergence in Ancient Rome are considered. The rights of the free citizens of municipalities of the first and second order are demonstrated. The executive power structure in the municipality of Ancient Rome is outlined.
The trends are considered in our country in the times of the Russian Empire (Tsarist Russia) of the executive body of the city public administration of the council or the city duma emerging as an analogue of the Western European municipalities. The article dwells upon the provisions of certain public acts adopted in the late 18th - mid-19th centuries, associated with the local government reform.
The legislative acts provisions of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Russian Federation periods, both previously and presently in force, are studied. The specifics of the local government system development and its implementation procedure in different years are revealed. The local government system of the USSR and the RSFSR period was identified to be the same, and neither of the laws applied the "municipality" concept. He article also notes that there is no mention of municipalities in the subsequent legislative acts of the Russian Federation.
The organization of municipalities in certain foreign countries (the US, Greece, Finland, etc.) has also been analyzed. As a result, it was revealed that in some foreign countries a municipality is referred to as local executive bodies (urban or rural administration, city and district administration), and in others, it is a single administrative-territorial entity. In this case, the "municipality" concept is close in meaning to the "community" and "commune" concepts. And in some US states, the "municipality" concept is broader in meaning: a municipality is understood both as the state itself or any of its corporations, and as an institution or any registered city.
In the final part of the article, the authors propose measures related to the Russian legislation improvement in the considered field.