The main features and functions of local self-government as a social institution

Mindlin Yury Borisovich

The article deals with the actual problems of local self-government as a social institution on the example of the Russian Federation. The article is an overview of theoretical and methodological nature within the sociology of management. The author reveals the main characteristics of local self-government institution in terms of its place and role in the development of management in modern Russian society. The research goal is to generalize the functions and characteristics of local self-government as a social institution. The research methodology is based on a system-functional approach and includes the methods of the general scientific group (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction); as well as a number of special methods: content analysis of scientific literature on the research topic, functional analysis, system generalization method. Based on the results of the study, the author of the article came to the following conclusions: the institution of local self-government is the key to the realization of civil rights and freedoms, as well as the main element in the dialogue between the state and society. The author considers the function of feedback between government bodies and the population to be the main one for local self-government. At the same time, Russian practice is currently characterized by a distortion of this function, the development of entropy and social apathy at the level of local governments.

Keywords:sociology of management, local self-government, structural-functional approach, sociological research, social dialogue.