Municipal public policy in the context of local government reform

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the main novelties of the reorganization of local self-government related to the proposed draft law no. 40361-8 “On the general principles of the organization of local self-government in a unified system of public power” through the prism of the phenomenon of public policy. The latter is a framework concept related to the civil competencies of state/ municipal management, the quality and level of public activity of civil society, which allows influencing the adoption of socially significant decisions. Municipal public policy is more based on the use of tools of intersectoral social partnership, which contributes to building a public dialogue of all active parties of the local community and the formation of an “agenda”. The reform proposed by the bill “centralizes” local self-government, significantly changing the principles of its territorial and organizational structure, enlarging municipalities by abolishing the settlement level. The multilayered concept of municipal public policy allows us to judge the optimal ratio of political and administrative properties of state and municipal authorities, combining administrative regulation and the use of forms of public participation of the population. From the point of view of the interests of the development of civil self-organization and “grassroots” public initiatives, the desire to make local self-government bodies the lower level of state power through the concept of “unity of public power” is undoubtedly alarming, which can lead to its administratization, affect the quality of the implementation of the principles of municipal public policy, reduce the opportunities for the subjective formation of an increasingly complex society.