THE INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY USING THE SYSTEM OF INDICATORS

Abstract

The assessment of the local government performance, as any other serious work, is improved and undergone major changes every year. The objective of this article-is the research of the methodological aspects of forming the system of indicators, which reflect the local government performance. The difficulties with which the constituent entities of the Russian Federation face while making assessment according to the procedure accepted on the federal level have been exposed. Some imperfections of the currently used procedure of the integrated assessment have been stated. The author concludes that the existing problems of acquiring the official and timely information from the statistical bodies, the absence of accounting the budgetary efficiency of costs and the financial status of certain municipal units, the difference in the approaches and methods of holding the opinion polls of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, call into a question the issue of fairness of the assessment results. The conducted study has allowed the author to identify the possible opportunities for the further studies. Although the methods do not require making the assessment of the performance targets approved in the strategies of the municipalities, it would be worthwhile to consider these indicators over time. While assessing the local government performance, it is recommended to use two approaches. One of them-which is obligatory for all (according to the procedure accepted on the federal level). Another approach-is holding own secondary monitoring, involving self-assessment of the activity on the effective territory management, while paying attention to the determination of the areas requiring the priority attention of the local governments. Municipalities are recommended to study the available foreign practices and the Russian achievements in the field of assessing the public body performance, which could include, for example, the European model of CAF.