Involvement of Inhabitants of the Russian Municipalities in the Initiative Budgeting Practices as a Factor of Civil Activity Intensification

摘要

This article analyzes the impact of initiative budgeting practices on the solution of local problems of Russian municipalities, as well as on the consciousness and behaviorral models of the population. The research method is traditional analysis of documents, formalized interviewing of residents of municipalities of Tver region (2016-2017), in-depth interviewing of representatives of regional and municipal authorities (2015). The characteristic features of the local initiatives support program as a variant of the initiative budgeting method were identified, directions and rates of development of the program in the Russian regions were analyzed. Social and cultural effects of implementation of initiative budgeting projects related to changes in attitudes and behavioral models of the population of Russian municipalities were studied. It was proved that involvement of citizens in micro-projects has a significant impact on their consciousness and behavioral models. The growth of activist attitudes of the population of municipalities participating in initiative budgeting practices, the growth of trust in public authorities and local self-government, expansion of ideas about the influence of citizens on government activities were identified. Representatives of the population participating in initiative budgeting projects are more focused on implementation of their active and passive electoral rights than citizens who do not participate in these projects. The former express readiness to assist in solving problems of their settlement using their personal resources.