MODELS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT: EXPERIENCE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ITS APPLICATION IN RUSSIA
In this article, the author analyzes in detail the distinctive features of «fundamental» models of organization of local government of foreign countries and draws conclusions about the possibility of implementing foreign experience in Russia. Based on doctrinal concepts and opinions about the nature and essence of local self-government, the author touches upon the historical aspect of the formation and development of local self-government in Russia and abroad. The study of retrospective processes allows the author to evaluate ideological, theoretical and practical experience of local self-government in foreign countries and to conduct a comparative analysis of its foundations. The author is guided by the postulate that local self-government is the most important element of the constitutional system of democratic States and the efficiency of local self-government is an important indicator of the degree of democratization of social and economic life of the country. Considering the essential features of Anglo-Saxon, continental and Latin American models of local self-government, the author draws the conclusion about inadmissibility of «blind» imitation of certain countries, highlights the expediency of the search for «their own way» and the need for the selective application of best foreign practices with due regard to historical, geographical, economic and socio-political characteristics of the Russian Federation.