Vol. 27 No. 2 (2019)

The article studies the use of project management technologies in educational training of specialists in the municipal field of culture of a large city in the Urals Federal District. The authors’ main task is to reveal the specific features of using project management technologies in a municipal university. According to the best national and international practice, the efficient training mechanism for the creative, independent thinkers generating constructive ideas, making decisions and pursuing the goals is the practice-oriented project-based learning involving regular projects of various complexity. Analysis of both Russian and international literature demonstrates that design objects in training are heterogeneous, variously subject-oriented and levelled. The research used such methods as document analysis, data integration, benchmarking, constructive matching and case-methods. The researchers ‘findings are also based on expert survey of leading cultural figures of a large city of the Ural and students of a municipal university. Results and scientific novelty: the research revealed that the management project practice, being the implementation of the locally connected projects based on network partnership and the principles of comprehensiveness, connectedness and complementarity, is the mechanism of sustainable reproduction of managers and those in the field of culture. The method of project training based on the regular fulfillment of management projects of increasing complexity by students is used to achieve a new level and quality of training in the field of art and culture and to develop competencies of international level.

The aim of this work is to reveal changes in the economy of the main mining area of Russia the Kemerovo region during the 2014 minor economic crisis on the basis of the open data analysis of the regional development rates and financial reporting of major industrial companies representatives of the four main industries of the region (mining, chemical, metallurgical, engineering). Economic crises in the context of modern globalization are one of the most serious problems of the socio-economic systems development at various levels. These problems are linked with the negative socio-economic consequences of the downturn, resulting in the stagnation of part of the economic potential and social upheaval, leading ultimately to the loss of stability of the regional economic national system. To eliminate these the industrial and economic activities regulations should be changed. The research methodology basis is the statistical analysis of the open data on Kuzbass socio-economic development in 2012-2017, the identification of crisis trends in their dynamics since 2014; examination of the financial and economic indicators of the largest enterprises representing the basic industries of the region since 2014. The results of the research demonstrated that according to statistics, negative changes have been observed since 2014 in the social sector mostly (resulting in the drop in incomes, unemployment growth). Among the major enterprises of the region, the mining and chemical enterprises and partly, metallurgical ones were under serious crisis. The economic analysis of the activities of machine-building enterprises did not allow registering the financial decrease since 2014, with their recovery by 2017.

The aim of this research is to develop methodological foundations for designing socio-economic indicators of quality of activity of the local self-government representative body in the context of implementing transformations of the formation procedure and activity of local self-government bodies. The new competitive system for electing heads of local self-government is considered to create conditions for their meaningful interaction with the highest official of the region in the process of addressing both urgent and strategic municipal tasks, including in cooperation with the municipal representative bodies. However, under such system the representative body of local self-government having significant authority does not bear any responsibility for efficiency and quality of their implementation, which leads to the formation of the narrowly corporate and even self-interested targets in the deputies’ behavior. In a representative body, there is a threat of creating groups whose interests are often parallel to the interests of the population. In pursuing this goal, the authors used the method of managerial analysis of efficiency and quality of the local self-government representative bodies and the system-activity methodology for designing socio-economic quality indicators of its work. Results and scientific novelty: feasibility and efficiency of the model is assessed, where the head of the municipality is elected by the deputies upon the recommendation of the competition committee and also exercises authority of managing local administration; management paradoxes are revealed that can depreciate the political significance and efficiency of the ongoing transformations of local government bodies; methodological foundations are formulated to develop the socio-economic quality indicators of the local self-government representative bodies in the process of overcoming major managerial antinomy; a conceptual approach for assessing the quality of activity of a deputy of the local self-government representative body is formulated.

The research aim is to analyze the human resource management system to ensure the favorable image, continuous search of opportunities to improve the performance, also using various methods of staff motivation. The informational basis for exploring efficient indicators of the personnel management system at MMK-Informservice LLC is statistics on labor resources, workforce turnover, workplaces, a report on the number of management staff and their remuneration, time keeping and HR department data. The human resource management system of MMK-Informservice LLC is a system of perceptions, requirements and principles, which identifies the main trends, forms and methods of interaction with the staff and is developed by the human resources department to ensure the timely provision of MMK-Informservice LLC with the workforce of the given quality and quantity, contributing to the full realization of labor rights and obligations and rational use of labor potential. The research is based on such methods as comparison, questioning, enterprise economic results analysis. The practical significance of the research is the development of changes in the human resource management system of MMK-Informservice LLC, which can be used by managers in the further enterprise activity. Scientific novelty: within the framework of the current human resources management system, to develop the optimal balance of updating processes and manpower numbers and quality, the development in accordance with corporate goals, the requirements of current legislation and the state of the labor market.

The research subject is the legal regulations on social support and the use of digital technologies in their implementation. The aim of the research is to identify and study the role of digital technologies in the field of social support of eligible beneficiaries, formulation of problems in this area and possible solutions. The research revealed that in the current legislation the issues of determining the law and the procedure for providing various measures of social support are regulated in sufficient detail. However, this legislation is not systematic and unified, as the social support issues are regulated by a wide range of federal and regional laws, as well as by-laws and regulations, which makes the process of legislation improving quite cumbersome. In this regard, it is critical to publish a unified federal law that would address all categories of eligible citizens and provide detailed regulation of social support measures for each of them. Method or methodology: the dialectical method of understanding legal reality. Results: regulatory acts in the field of social support for eligible beneficiaries are analyzed, basic concepts in the field are considered, legislative inconsistencies in the conceptual framework in this field are identified and certain changes are proposed. Scope of results: social support to eligible beneficiaries of the Russian Federation. The research led to the important conclusion of the adoption of the new Federal Law “On Social support of eligible beneficiaries of the Russian Federation” as a single one, which would address all the issues of applying the Unified State Social Security Information System at federal, regional and municipal levels. Nowadays, this topic is relevant in the science of social security law. On January 1, 2018, the Unified State Social Security Information System began to operate in the Russian Federation. There is no holistic study on the issues under consideration.

The aim of the research is a comprehensive analysis of legal nature of the charter of a municipal entity. Grounds are provided, that the municipality charter, being the constituent act of a self-governing unit, is the cornerstone of the foundation of all the municipal rulemaking, a particular “bearing axis”. The leading role of the charter in the system of normative legal acts of a municipality, regulating local self-government, is due to its specific legal nature. The author reveals special integrative (or emergent) features of the municipality charter providing for its legal nature and system-forming character in the structure of other municipal legal acts. For the research, the author used general scientific methods: system-structural, formal-logical, comparative-legal analysis, generalization. In the course of the research, the author identified and considered the specific features of the municipality charter as the main municipal legal act. Based on the research findings, it is proposed to supplement Art. 2 of the Federal Law “On general principles of organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation” of October 6, 2003 №131-FL with the following regulatory definition: the charter of a municipal unit is the main municipal regulatory legal constituent act, which, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and the laws of a territorial entity of the Russian Federation, regulates organization and exercising of local self-government in the municipal territory and which has the highest legal force in the system of other municipal legal acts. Scientific novelty. A version of the normative definition of the “charter of a municipal entity” is given; the concept of “integrative features of the charter of a municipal entity” is introduced and their analysis is carried out.

Purpose. To study the reauthorization institution in the public authority system of the Russian Federation; to identify problems of its functioning and to propose development options. The author considers that the federal legislator using the term “reauthorization” does not reveal its content and identity or difference from other ones previously enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal legislation, for example, “vesting”, “transfer”, “demarcation”, “temporary exercise of certain powers”, "transfer of part of the exercised authority." Reasons that in order to determine the legal content of the term “reauthorization” it is necessary to identify the nature of the local government bodies power, which may become the subject of redistribution, are provided. The author’s interpretation is given of the ideal reauthorization model, which should unconditionally contain regulation of the issue of financial basis for the exercising any official power, otherwise the exercising of powers could be jeopardized, which would inevitably lead to violation of the constitutional principle of equal protection of the law and court The methods of analytical jurisprudence have been used: analysis, synthesis, comparative-legal method. All elements of the legislative structure of the reauthorization institution between local and national government bodies of the subject of the Russian Federation are revealed. The problems of the reauthorization institution functioning are identified. The mechanism of powers redistribution is presented in detail. The conditions to transfer the authority of one level of public authority to another are provided. The nature of the powers of local government and transferred powers is analyzed. Scientific novelty. The nature of the reauthorization institution is examined; constitutional foundations for reauthorization and conditions for constitutionality of redistribution of powers are formulated.

The article analyzes the institutions of public hearings and public discussions. The issue that public hearings are one of the bridges between civil society and local authorities is considered. The important role of this institution is justified and the purpose of public hearings is analyzed. The experts’ and practitioners’ perceptions, as well as the author's critical position on some of them, are provided. The issue of efficiency of these forms of population participation in local government activities is discussed. The research considers the inappropriateness of submitting such a serious document as the draft local budget to public hearing, as the local budget is not the money itself, as many representatives of the local communities believe, but only the total of income and expenditure, drawn up in the form of a municipal legal act. Drafting a budget is a serious process involving professionals. No wonder the budget is drafted by the financial body of the local authority. The budget is drafted based on the forecast of the socio-economic development of the territory, main directions of the budget and tax policies, forecast plan for the local economy development, the established amounts of financial assistance from higher-level budgets and other documents. The draft budget contains main indicators: volume of revenue and expenditure sides, deficit and ways to cover it, debt and sources of its financing. Also, the author analyzes legislator’s intention and legal framework of public hearings. As a result, the author provides recommendations for improving the legal regulation of these institutions.

The article examines the issue of jurisdiction division between government bodies of the RF subjects and local authorities in the field of handling stray animals, in connection with the latest changes in federal law. It is considered, that the attitude towards animals developed in the social media, the variety of mechanisms for their protection, the interaction level between population and authorities are indicators of development and maturity of both the social and legal level of social development. According to the research findings, nowadays, all the RF regions, without exception, face serious problems with regulating the number of animals without owners (hereinafter, stray animals) and ensuring control over them. The increase in stray animals number poses a real threat to the sanitary well-being, people’s health and lives, therefore the adoption of such a legislative act was a milestone and created legal prerequisites for addressing this problem. Based on the analysis, the author concludes that the current legal regulation does not clearly distinguish between the jurisdictions of different authority levels, does not meet the concept of the latest federal legislation and requires the adoption of a number of legal acts to properly consolidate the competence of public authorities in this field. It is particularly considered that the already existing regional legislation and the following municipal acts, should be revised, being precisely based on the regulations of the Law on responsible handling of animals, considering precisely its goals, general principles and features.

The article discusses the influence of financial awareness level of the population of individual municipalities of St. Petersburg city and their irrational motives on the rational choice of goods. It is assumed that awareness of basic economic categories and understanding of market laws determine the individuals’ competent use of the available funds. It is emphasized that the level of financial awareness of the population is quite low. The concept of rational and irrational consumer behavior is determined, modern theoretical concepts of rational economic behavior and their specific features are also considered. The author specifies that the choice of an item and the decision to purchase it depend not only on economic factors, but also by non-economic ones the consumer’s preferences, their habits, fashion and others. Based on this, the assumption is made on the interdependence of the financial awareness level, the subjective reasons and the rationality of the choice of goods. A hypothesis is provided of the impact of financial illiteracy, including the inability to rationally assess income and costs, and the individual’s irrational economic actions on their economic security. The following describes the purpose, methods and techniques of empirical research of the given factors and their transformations influenced by the consumer financial awareness. The sample included 100 people living in Petergof town, “Sosnovaya Polyana” and “Admiralty District” municipalities in St. Petersburg, 45% were men. The impact of such variables as: a) financial awareness level and b) irrational consumption indicator is assessed. The research findings demonstrate that the consumers’ financial awareness level affects the rationality of the choice of goods, as well as the strategy of saving and accumulation. The results obtained actualize the need to improve the financial awareness of the population of municipalities in terms of consumer behavior, including in the context of the developing digital (internet) economy of the Russian regions.

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.

The research aim is to identify the specifics of the formation and development of marketing structures of consumer markets in the post-Soviet period. According to the research, the consumer market is affected by factors such as the economic situation in the country as a whole, which directly affects inflation expectations, consumer preferences structure and real disposable income of the population. Over the past decades, the consumer market, in general, and the retail sector in particular, has been developing dynamically and is currently one of the key sectors of urban economy. Along with this, the basis for managing the city’s consumer market development should be special principles, methods and with specific tools, as on the one hand, it possesses a number of features common to all systems, and on the other hand, has certain unique specifics. Moreover, the consumer market plays an important role in the city economy, as it exercises the self-regulating function. In identifying the specifics of formation and development of consumer markets marketing structures in the post-Soviet period, such research methods as retrospective analysis, systematization and classification have been used. Based on the research findings, the author identifies structural problems of consumer market, consequences for the development of consumer markets marketing structures in the post-Soviet period from the transition to a market management system, and carries out a retrospective analysis of regulatory acts adopted in the 1990s. Scientific novelty lies in the systematization and expansion of the classification of methods of consumer market management, which can be used in conditions of market economy.