Criteria for the selection of heads of municipalities: formal prescriptions and real practices
Research Article
How to Cite
Chirikova A.E. Criteria for the selection of heads of municipalities: formal prescriptions and real practices. Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 2022. Vol. 9. No. 1. P. 164–196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2022.9.1.6 (in Russ.).
Abstract
This article discusses the most urgent problem of the selection of candidates for the position of the heads of municipalities — the criteria for selecting candidates in small Russian towns by the competitive commissions, which replaced direct elections. The competitive model is considered very controversial and causes numerous disputes among specialists. Therefore, the paper pays special attention to the formal foundations for the functioning of such a model in the assessments of lawyers, on the one hand, on the other hand, empirical estimates of the most popular candidate selection criteria given by regional and local elites are given. The study was conducted in three Russian regions with different socio-economic profiles. The assessments given by the regional elites were supplemented by the assessments of the local elites in four small Russian towns. A total of 72 interviews were conducted in 2018–2020.
Based on the materials received, it can be argued that so far the competitive model of elections has not received an unambiguous assessment either from legal scholars or from representatives of the elite corps. Describing the current selection criteria, regional and local elites admit that the assessment of the personal qualities of candidates is recognized by decision makers as the most important in competitive selection, but it is this assessment that is quite subjective, which leads to the dominance of informal practices over formal ones. The local elites are more focused on the leadership qualities of a candidate when choosing, while the majority of regional officials prefer “performers”.
Keywords:
federal laws, competitive model, selection criteria for heads of municipalities, image of the preferred candidate, assessments of local and regional elites, leadership, diligence
References
1. Viskulova V.V. O konkursnom poriadke izbraniya glav municipalnikh obraozovaniy: nekotoriye obobsheniya dvukhletney praktiki [On the competitive procedure for electing heads of municipalities: some generalizations of two-year practice], Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava [Journal of Russian law], 2017, 6, pp. 26–37. https://doi.org/10.12737/article_592409b76646a1.89966646. (In Russian)
2. Gel’man V.Ya. Iz ognya da v polimya: rossiyskaya politika posle SSSR [Out of the fire and into the flames: Russian politics after the USSR]. St Petersburg: BVH-Petersburg, 2013. 169 p. (In Russian)
3. Degtyarev A.A. Osnovi politicheskoy teorii [Fundamentals of political theory]. Moscow: Vishaya Shkola, 1998. 239 p. (In Russian)
4. Jangarian N.V. Konkursniy glava municipal’nogo obrazovaniya (mestnoy administracii): Osobennosti legitimacii i problemy sovershenstvovaniya pravovogo statusa [Competitive head of a municipality (local administration): features of legitimation and problems of improving the legal status], Konstitutcionnoe i municipal’noe pravo, 2016, 6. pp. 66–72. (In Russian)
5. Doklad o rezul’tatakh yezhegodnogo monitoringa organizatsii i razvitiya mestnogo samoupravleniya v Rossiyskoy Federatsii (za 2019 god i pervoye polugodiye 2020 goda) [Elektronniy resurs] [Report on the results of the annual monitoring of the organization and development of local self-government in the Russian Federation (for 2019 and the first half of 2020)] [Electronic resource]. Ed. by Ju.S. Ljubimov. Moscow, 2020. Available at: https://minjust.gov.ru/ru/activity/directions/977/ (accessed: 07.14.2022). (In Russian)
6. Dorofeev A. Glava munitsipal’nogo obrazovaniya kak element strukturi organov mestnogo samoupravleniya: voprosi izbraniya [The head of the municipality as an element of the structure of local self-government bodies: issues of election]. In: Materiali VII nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii “Noviye impulsi razvitiya: Voprosi nauchnogo issledovaniya [Materials of the VII scientific and practical conference “New development impulses: questions of scientific research”]. Moscow: KDU; Dobrosvet, 2021, pp. 214–220. (In Russian)
7. Kinzerskaya I.L. Izbiratel’naya sistema kak instrument formirovaniya obschestvennogo vibora: teoreticheskiye podhodi i rossiyskaya praktika [The electoral system as a tool for the formation of public choice: theoretical approaches and Russian practice], Politicheskaja jekspertiza: Politjeks [Political expertise: Politex], 2008, 4 (2), pp. 137–150. (In Russian)
8. Korosteleva M.V. Problemi pravovogo regulirovaniya izbraniya glavi munitsipal’nogo obrazovaniya [Problems of legal regulation of the election of the head of the municipality], Munitsipal’naya sluzhba: pravoviye voprosi [Municipal service: legal issues], 2016, 3, pp. 11–14. (In Russian)
9. Makarov I.I. Komissiya po provedeniyu konkursa na dolzhnost’ glavi mestnoy administratsii: formirivaniye i sostav [Commission for the competition for the position of the head of the local administration: formation and composition], Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava [Journal of Russian law], 2010, 5, pp. 81–88. (In Russian)
10. Oseychuk V.I. O formirivanii novogo mekhanizma kadrovoy politiki v sisteme gosudarstvennoy slizhbi [On the Formation of a new mechanism of personnel policy in the public service system, Konstitutsionnoye i munitsipal’noye pravo [Constitutional and municipal law], 2008, 15, pp. 10–14. (In Russian)
11. Podvintsev O.B. Predviborniye koalitsii i mekhanizmi ikh formirovaniya [Preelection coalitions and mechanisms of their formation]. In: Podvintsev O.B. Psefologiya: nauka o viborakh [Psephology: the science of elections]. Perm’: Perm’ State University, 2007, pp. 71–80. (In Russian)
12. Pilin V.V. Ustroystvo sistemi organov mestnogo samoupravleniya: nekotoriye problemi i puti ikh resheniya [Organization of the local self-government system: some problems and ways to solve them], Upravlencheskoye konsul’tirovaniye [Administrative consulting], 2009, 2 (34), pp. 25–38. (In Russian)
13. Solodkaya M.S. Modeli vibora glav munitsipal’nikh obrazovaniy v Rossiyskoy Federatsii: dostoinstva i nedostatki [Models for the selection of heads of municipalities in the Russian Federation: advantages and disadvantages], Trudi Orenburgskogo instituta (filiala) Moskovskoy gosudarstbennoy yuridicheskoy akademii [Proceedings of the Orenburg Institute (branch) of the Moscow State Law Academy], 2010, 12, pp. 43–47. (In Russian)
14. Chirikova A.E. Predvyborniye koalitsii v usloviyakh pryamykh viborov v malom rossiyskom gorode (rayone): vzglyad v nedavneye proshloye [Pre-election coalitions in conditions of direct elections in a small Russian town (district): a look into the recent past], Vlast’ i eliti [Power and elites], 2018, 5, pp. 238–262. https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2018.5.9. (In Russian)
15. Stone C. Political Leadership in Urban Politics // Theories of Urban Politics / Ed. by J. Davies, D. Imbroscio. London: Sage, 1995. P. 96–116.
2. Gel’man V.Ya. Iz ognya da v polimya: rossiyskaya politika posle SSSR [Out of the fire and into the flames: Russian politics after the USSR]. St Petersburg: BVH-Petersburg, 2013. 169 p. (In Russian)
3. Degtyarev A.A. Osnovi politicheskoy teorii [Fundamentals of political theory]. Moscow: Vishaya Shkola, 1998. 239 p. (In Russian)
4. Jangarian N.V. Konkursniy glava municipal’nogo obrazovaniya (mestnoy administracii): Osobennosti legitimacii i problemy sovershenstvovaniya pravovogo statusa [Competitive head of a municipality (local administration): features of legitimation and problems of improving the legal status], Konstitutcionnoe i municipal’noe pravo, 2016, 6. pp. 66–72. (In Russian)
5. Doklad o rezul’tatakh yezhegodnogo monitoringa organizatsii i razvitiya mestnogo samoupravleniya v Rossiyskoy Federatsii (za 2019 god i pervoye polugodiye 2020 goda) [Elektronniy resurs] [Report on the results of the annual monitoring of the organization and development of local self-government in the Russian Federation (for 2019 and the first half of 2020)] [Electronic resource]. Ed. by Ju.S. Ljubimov. Moscow, 2020. Available at: https://minjust.gov.ru/ru/activity/directions/977/ (accessed: 07.14.2022). (In Russian)
6. Dorofeev A. Glava munitsipal’nogo obrazovaniya kak element strukturi organov mestnogo samoupravleniya: voprosi izbraniya [The head of the municipality as an element of the structure of local self-government bodies: issues of election]. In: Materiali VII nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii “Noviye impulsi razvitiya: Voprosi nauchnogo issledovaniya [Materials of the VII scientific and practical conference “New development impulses: questions of scientific research”]. Moscow: KDU; Dobrosvet, 2021, pp. 214–220. (In Russian)
7. Kinzerskaya I.L. Izbiratel’naya sistema kak instrument formirovaniya obschestvennogo vibora: teoreticheskiye podhodi i rossiyskaya praktika [The electoral system as a tool for the formation of public choice: theoretical approaches and Russian practice], Politicheskaja jekspertiza: Politjeks [Political expertise: Politex], 2008, 4 (2), pp. 137–150. (In Russian)
8. Korosteleva M.V. Problemi pravovogo regulirovaniya izbraniya glavi munitsipal’nogo obrazovaniya [Problems of legal regulation of the election of the head of the municipality], Munitsipal’naya sluzhba: pravoviye voprosi [Municipal service: legal issues], 2016, 3, pp. 11–14. (In Russian)
9. Makarov I.I. Komissiya po provedeniyu konkursa na dolzhnost’ glavi mestnoy administratsii: formirivaniye i sostav [Commission for the competition for the position of the head of the local administration: formation and composition], Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava [Journal of Russian law], 2010, 5, pp. 81–88. (In Russian)
10. Oseychuk V.I. O formirivanii novogo mekhanizma kadrovoy politiki v sisteme gosudarstvennoy slizhbi [On the Formation of a new mechanism of personnel policy in the public service system, Konstitutsionnoye i munitsipal’noye pravo [Constitutional and municipal law], 2008, 15, pp. 10–14. (In Russian)
11. Podvintsev O.B. Predviborniye koalitsii i mekhanizmi ikh formirovaniya [Preelection coalitions and mechanisms of their formation]. In: Podvintsev O.B. Psefologiya: nauka o viborakh [Psephology: the science of elections]. Perm’: Perm’ State University, 2007, pp. 71–80. (In Russian)
12. Pilin V.V. Ustroystvo sistemi organov mestnogo samoupravleniya: nekotoriye problemi i puti ikh resheniya [Organization of the local self-government system: some problems and ways to solve them], Upravlencheskoye konsul’tirovaniye [Administrative consulting], 2009, 2 (34), pp. 25–38. (In Russian)
13. Solodkaya M.S. Modeli vibora glav munitsipal’nikh obrazovaniy v Rossiyskoy Federatsii: dostoinstva i nedostatki [Models for the selection of heads of municipalities in the Russian Federation: advantages and disadvantages], Trudi Orenburgskogo instituta (filiala) Moskovskoy gosudarstbennoy yuridicheskoy akademii [Proceedings of the Orenburg Institute (branch) of the Moscow State Law Academy], 2010, 12, pp. 43–47. (In Russian)
14. Chirikova A.E. Predvyborniye koalitsii v usloviyakh pryamykh viborov v malom rossiyskom gorode (rayone): vzglyad v nedavneye proshloye [Pre-election coalitions in conditions of direct elections in a small Russian town (district): a look into the recent past], Vlast’ i eliti [Power and elites], 2018, 5, pp. 238–262. https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2018.5.9. (In Russian)
15. Stone C. Political Leadership in Urban Politics // Theories of Urban Politics / Ed. by J. Davies, D. Imbroscio. London: Sage, 1995. P. 96–116.
Article
Received: 19.05.2022
Accepted: 16.08.2022
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
ACM
[1]
Chirikova, A.E. 2022. Criteria for the selection of heads of municipalities: formal prescriptions and real practices. Vlast i Elity (Power and Elites). 9, 1 (Aug. 2022), 164–196. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/pe.2022.9.1.6.
Section
Municipal Politics
