Mukhametov Ruslan S.

The purpose of the given article is to determine the representative bodies composition of municipalities and the place of the business community representatives in the deputy corps. The paper formulates research issues about the share of the business community representatives in the deputy corps; factors influencing the level of business representation in the city councils; whether the municipal deputies who come from business are a consolidated group and what it depends on.
The "state capture" concept, proposed by J. Helman, G. Johnson and D. Kaufman, the World Bank experts, made the theoretical and methodological framework of the article.
The empirical basis of the research was the biographical database of local deputies. The source of biographical information was the official websites of the representative bodies of the municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region. The total sample was 40 municipalities. The data source for municipalities was the official websites of local administrations. The list of monocities of the Middle Urals is provided on the official website of the regional Ministry of Investment and Development. The quantitative data analysis method was the statistical methods, including the multiple linear regression method. The statistical calculations were made with SPSS Statistics software.
It is shown that the commercial organizations representatives make up about 40% of the total number of municipal deputies. The author came to the conclusion that the economic development level of municipalities does not affect the representation degree of people from commercial structures. The paper notes that the presence of a city-forming enterprise in the municipality is a key factor. It is emphasized that neither an absolute majority of deputies-entrepreneurs, nor the mere presence of a city-forming enterprise is a guarantee of a city council "capture".

From the early 2015, in Russia in general and in the Sverdlovsk region in particular, there is an ongoing process of transition to the competitive system of the city heads election. The problem is that this process is different: quite peacefully in some municipalities, but scandalized in others. The aim of the research is to study the political situation in the municipalities of the Middle Urals and highlight not only the models of transition to the new election system, but also the factors justifying the particular option. The rational choice theory is the theoretical and methodological basis of the research. The comparative analysis (to identify criteria for distinguishing various transition models) and the case-study method (to consider specific situations in municipalities) were also applied. As the empirical basis, there was data from local election commissions, materials from news agencies, and analytical reports. As a result, the author came to the conclusion, that the process of transition to a competitive system of mayor election is varying. In some municipalities (Ekaterinburg, Sysert) this process goes smoothly, without political excesses, and in others (Degtyarsk, Bogdanovich) is accompanied by political conflicts. The research showed that the options (models) of the transition process and its political results depend on a combination of two factors the degree of the municipal elite unity and the level of conflict between the mayor and the regional leader.

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.

Purpose. This article is devoted to the creation of a collective portrait of the Ural mayor, elected by the representative body from among the candidates submitted by the competition Commission on the results of the competition, and the head of the local administration. Methods. The paper used a biographical method, i.e. the study was based on the analysis of biographical data of the current heads of municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region. Results. As a result of the study, the author came to the conclusion that the current Ural mayors are middle aged men born in the Sverdlovsk region, with higher technical education and working in the municipal service as heads of municipalities. Scientific novelty. The General portrait of the Ural mayors is made and the beginning of studying of municipal elites of the Middle Urals is put.