New Basic Principles of the State Policy in an Area of Local Self-Government Development in Russia

The purpose of the article is to highlight the most important economic, legal, and institutional foundations which are advised to be included in the new "Basic principles of national policy on local self-government development through to 2030". It was concluded that it was a late decision to prepare a new version of the Principles which caused significant difficulties in the practical implementation of reforms in the municipal environment of the Russian Federation along with many gaps and numerous subsequent additions and amendments in Federal Law no. 131-FZ "On the general principles of the organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation". Nowadays, update of the Principles is very important. It is related to five significant novations which make us reexamine aims and instruments of the state policy in the local self-government area. The first one is a global trend of management decentralization that noticeably strengthens the role of a local link of socio-economic systems. The second important novation is the relevance of a task to implement "federalization" of the government's management of local self-government. The third novation is a necessity to naturally include local selfgovernment in a unified vertical of strategic planning: its efficient functioning takes a crucial part in providing sustainability of the country, its regions, and municipal territories' socio-economic development. The fourth demanded novation is expediency to secure a formula, or a principle, that would allow stopping an infinite series of reorganizations of Russian self-government together with various dividing and unifying processes in this sphere. Finally, the fifth novation is a necessity to finish the transformation of Russian local self-government from a low-level component of the administrative and command system into a socio-economic institution that naturally combines features of social authority and the beginning of a modern civil society and practically implements an institutional principle of "independent solution of local issues by people".