Determinants of the Trust of Russian Municipalities? Residents in Local Self-Government Bodies

The relevance of the article is due to Russia's orientation toward the democratization of socio-political relations, as well as the need to address issues emerging in modern society. We consider a system of factors determining the level, nature, and dynamics of the trust of Russian municipalities' residents in local self-government bodies. We provide the findings of the following sociological surveys conducted in the Tver Oblast: 1) a sociological monitoring carried out to analyze the dynamics of citizens' perceptions of local self-government (2012-2022); 2) a study that analyzes public trust in local self-government bodies (October 7 - November 1, 2022). The data of our research are compared with the results of all -Russian surveys. Our approach consists in analyzing the trust in local self-government as a whole and, at the same time, the trust in its individual institutions (head, administration, and representative body of municipality). This, along with the grouping of trust factors that we put forward, determines the scientific novelty of the work. In the course of the study, we observe a low level of trust in local self-government bodies (compared, for example, with trust in the president), its undulating dynamics, predominance of an increasing trend, tendency toward its depersonalization, and formation of an institutional type of trust. We propose a theoretical and methodological framework for designing a system of determinants of trust in local self-government bodies and identify groups of factors influencing it. We reveal a weak connection of the dynamics of trust in local self-government bodies with the stages of the economic cycle, the importance of the material well-being of citizens as a trust factor; besides, we find that citizens' trust in local self-government bodies is conditioned by their perception of the economic situation. The factors that have the most significant influence on the growth of the level of trust in local authorities include positive assessment of the work of local self-government bodies, citizens' positive assessment of their own experience of interaction with local self-government employees, high or average assessment of the degree of influence of an ordinary citizen on the activities of local self-government bodies. Perceptions concerning the presence of corruption in municipal bodies, inconsistency of real municipal practices aimed at minimizing the participation of citizens in managerial decision-making, and people's expectations have a negative impact on the credibility of this institution. We propose ways to solve these problems. Theoretical significance of the work is determined by the possibility to use the theoretical and methodological framework for further theoretical and empirical research. Practical significance is associated with the possibility of developing state and municipal policy measures aimed at improving ways to increase public trust in local authorities.