Issue 2020 no3 contents:

The article is  devoted to  the study of  the constitutional amendments of  2020 in terms of legal regulation of the processes of formation, organization and functioning of federal executive authorities. The analysis shows that the constitutional amendments in terms of subjects of exclusive jurisdiction of the Russian Federation confi rm the relevance and constitutional predetermination of the legislative regulation of the federal executive authorities system, while in  relation to  their structure the vector for subordinate administrative legal regulation is still maintained. The article examines the mechanisms for ensuring the stability of the structure of the federal executive authorities; in particular, the new constitutional provision foresees the possibility of changes to the structure only at the initial stages of the formation of the Government immediately after the election of the President of Russia. Special attention is paid to the updated mechanism for forming the Government, which provides for consultations with the Federation Council when appointing the heads of the «law-enforcement» authorities, as  well as  approving other Government members by  the State Duma. The article simulates the maximum possible constitutional period allowed for the formation of the Government. It is noted that even in hypothetical conditions of severe opposition of all political institutions, the timeframe for forming a government will not exceed two and a half months.

Contracting out public services represents one of the very frequent forms of alternative service delivery. Current literature is  more and more skeptical regarding the potential of contracting related to the efficiency of public service delivery. The goal of this article is to analyse (based on data collected by the authors during the last 20 years in two countries) the efficiency of contracting local service delivery. The study addresses three research questions: What is the proportion of contracted local public services? Does contracting improve the efficiency of  local service delivery? Which factors determine the efficiency of contracting? Concerning the first question, the data show that the role of contracting in delivery of local public services is still very significant in selected countries when compared to Western countries. Concerning the second question, research findings suggest that contracting may deliver limited efficiency improvements, but its full potential is  not confirmed and utilised. This is especially (third research question) the result of the very low quality of contract management.

Technological progress and economic incentives contribute to the rapid development and digitalization of  all areas of  government activity, including public procurement. The key role in digital transformation belongs to electronic platforms. They provide technological feasibility of electronic procurement process and its accessibility for all the participants. This article presents the analysis of previous studies on the use of the concept of «platform» or «state platform» in relation to the public procurement system. The authors examined regulatory and industry sources, conducted a number of semistructured interviews with experts in the field of public procurement, including questions about the general understanding of the term «public digital platform», the presence of signs of digital platforms in the existing public procurement system, its further development, taking into account the capabilities of platform technolo gies and, in general, their applicability in the Russian context. Based on the analysis carried out, for the first time in Russian practice, an integrated approach is presented for defining a digital platform in the field of public procurement. We identified ten main features that characterize a digital platform in the field of public procurement. On the basis of these features, the Russian unified procurement information system (UPIS) in the field of procurement was analyzed for its compliance with the concept of a digital platform and it was concluded that at present the UPIS cannot be called a state digital platform either by itself or as part of a complex of information systems of electronic platforms. Taking into account the already created and functioning ecosystem in the field of public procurement, it seems inappropriate to digitally transform the public procurement system into a single platform. In general, it was concluded that the EIS in the field of public procurement certainly needs to be developed, not due to the large-scale platformization of the system, but through the development of mechanisms for specific services due to their local approximation to the general logic and highlighted features of the platform approach.

The situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictive measures introduced by  the state are analyzed in  the context of  the long-term dynamics of  the sector and changes in public policy towards SMEs over the last two decades. Based on the analysis of official statistics and business demographics in 2005–2020, it is revealed that unfavorable trend – first of all, a decline in business start ups and an increase in firms’ shutdowns – in the sector had developed already before the crisis of 2008 and further it continued to  progress. The main factors for such negative dynamics have been analyzed by the authors both in Russia as a whole and in different groups of regions. The study shows that negative developments of the SME in the country should be understood in the context of negative socio-economic changes influenced by a series of established institutional traps which occurred during the systemic transition and the limited effectiveness of the measures applied to support SMEs.
An analysis of the feasibility and efficiency of the urgent state support measures of small business under the CIVID-19 has been carried out. In conclusion, the authors draw practical recommendations on the principles of reloading the public policy toward SME which should be formed in future after the pandemic, as well as indicate possible junctions in their implementation.

The research focuses on the social relations in the field of digital public administration, namely possibilities of  applying in  public administration of  blockchain. The main purpose of this research is to identify streams of regulatory reform of public administration in order to create legal conditions for the blockchain technology application by State authorities. The study was based on the foreign and Russian authors’ researches in the field of public administration, as well as strategic legal acts. The main obstacle to  introduce blockchain in  public administration is  the contradiction between vertical structure of administration and the decentralized nature of blockchain. The article describes the similarities between blockchain and new public management, defines the types of public functions in which blockchain can be most effective. The conclusions made in the literature regarding the preference for closed blockchains by  the State, which allow to  maintain control over the transactions carried out, are projected by the method of analogy to the field of legal regulation of public administration. The expansion of the results obtained in the public administration science into the legal sphere has revealed specific problems that require updated legal regulation in connection with blockchain within the framework of the public administration laws. Integrated legal regulation will affect both the composition and procedure of public functions and the institutional framework of public administration. Resolving disputes needs special attention. The task is complicated by the absence of systemic regulation concerning public administration process in Russia. As a result of the research, key directions of regulatory reform in the public administration field, allowing the use of blockchain technology, proposals for improvement of legislation have been identified. Some recommendations can be used in the course of regulatory correction within the framework of the national project «Digital Economy.»

The article focuses on the issues related to the building and functioning of the system of  protection of  population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies in Russia in the context of modern challenges and threats. On the one hand, the established state system of protection, which has a multi-level and complex character, allows effective responding to emergency situations. At the same time it should be noted that its performance generates increasing dysfunctions associated with inadequate orientation at the tasks on monitoring and forecasting of emergency situations, the continuing fragmentation of its individual elements and unclear distribution of powers in the spheres of protection from emergency situations and civil defense. The hypothesis of  the authors of  the article is  that the existing division of  spheres of  management, on  the one hand  – by  the protection from emergency situations, on the other hand – by civil defense, is of largely artificial manner and therefore resulted in a doubling of organizational structures and policy management. The analysis of law enforcement practice, as well as historical development and the international experience of  regulation, affirms the need for a  considerable adjustment of the institutional basis for the functioning of various elements constituting the unified state system of prevention and liquidation of emergency situations and the civil defense system. The authors substantiate that the priority direction of the development of  public administration in  this sphere should be  the creation of  the civil protection system as a holistic object of state regulation combining both protection from emergency situations and civil defense.

Departmental quality and safety control of medical activities (hereinafter – departmental control) remains one of the least studied forms of Russian medical control from scientific, organizational and legal points of view. The hypothesis has been put forward that a holistic departmental control system has not been formed on the territory of the Russian regions, which requires additional scientific assessment. The aim of the study was to determine the problematic moments of the departmental control system formation in  a  Russian Federation subject and to  give scientifically justified proposals for its organizational improvement. Materials and methods were based on a content analysis of regulatory legal acts and open source data, as well as a comparative analysis of  federal and regional executive bodies’ performance indicators. The features of  the distribution and implementation of departmental control powers in the Chelyabinsk region have been determined. According to the methodology for assessing the criteria for the severity of potential negative consequences of possible non-compliance by medical organizations with mandatory requirements, developed by Federal Service on Surveillance in Healthcare, the degree of need for departmental control for all federal and regional executive body’s of the Chelyabinsk region was determined. It has been established that a holistic system of departmental quality control has not yet been formed in the Russian regions – departmental control in subordinate organizations is not carried out or is carried out with insufficient efficiency. To complete the formation of the departmental control system, it is necessary to reorient it from external influences (appeals, complaints, instructions and requests) to the internal needs of executive authorities, to develop common targets for the activities of subordinate medical organizations, to adequately calculate the burden on officials during departmental control, to redistribute regional medical organizations by subordination and, in a number of entities, to transfer municipal health institutions to state subordination.

The purpose of the study is to develop a methodological approach to assess the infrastructure potential of the territory as a tool for monitoring the effectiveness of the implementation of the state regional policy in the field of infrastructure development.
The algorithm for comparative assessment of the infrastructure potential of regions is substantiated in the article. The authors believe that a regular assessment of the level of infrastructure development (infrastructure capacity) of macro-regions and regions – subjects of the Russian Federation, along with the monitoring of the achievement of the targets established, should be  provided within the framework of  implementation approved at the Federal and regional levels, of programmes and plans for infrastructure development. The proposed method of cost estimation of the region’s infrastructure potential is based on the use of an integral indicator of the territory’s fund saturation, taking into account the qualitative characteristics of the state of fixed assets.
The study revealed a significant spatial differentiation of Russian regions in terms of  infrastructure potential that helped to  group them by  the level of  its development. The difference between the maximum and minimum values of the infrastructure potential assessment (even without taking into account the federal cities) exceeds 730 times. The cities of federal significance – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, as well as the republics of Crimea and Tatarstan, Krasnodar, Moscow and Kaliningrad regions have the maximum infrastructure potential. The infrastructure potential is  evenly decreasing to the East and North of the country. The republics of Tyva, Sakha (Yakutia), Magadan region, and the Chukotka Autonomous Region have the lowest indicators of territory’s fund saturation and correspondingly low level of infrastructure potential development. More than a quarter of all Russian regions have a lower level of infrastructure development than the national average. Based on the correlation analysis, it was found that the size of the territory’s infrastructure potential has a direct positive impact on the inflow of investments to the regions and the growth of GRP, and therefore is one of the important factors of economic growth and increasing the competitiveness of the regional economy.
The results obtained within the study can be applied in the practice of managing the development of territories when forecasting and developing strategies of the socioeconomic development of new macro-regions of Russia, and also used for monitoring the state policy of infrastructure development.

The paper discusses the practice of  ‘state religious expertise’, i.e. a  special form of applying expert knowledge in Russia, primarily for the purpose of registering religious organizations. Authors reveal the real place and functions of this institute, by analyz-ing data on the activities of special expert committees for the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and its regional offices over the period 2009–2018, as well as on the interviews with religious studies specialists. Two main problems were found out: the low demand of this knowledge by the Ministry of Justice officials and the existence of expert committees with an obvious conflict of interest. The general number of expert examinations is small, and its significant part is unnecessary, being only a confirmation of  the conclusions for which officials have enough of  their own competence. Besides, the rules of  ‘state religious expertise’ are flexible, and practices vary from one region to another, which puts local religious communities in unequal conditions. In summary, the work of expert committees often may be characterized as formal or fictitious, but it may be used, if necessary, as a barrier against unwelcome religious associations, thereby ensure state intervention in the sphere of religious freedom.

The study examines the activity of municipal authorities in the development of cultural tourism. The authors consider the dysfunctions of the resource support of the activities of modern municipalities, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of creating a competitive tourism product. The purpose of the study is to analyse the resources and limitations of the activities of municipal authorities for the development of cultural tourism. In order to achieve the goal the authors have to accomplishthe following tasks: assessing financial, organizational, personnel, investment and other resources of local government, the possibility of their conversion into tourism development; analysing the readiness of modern municipalities to implement such areas of activity as updating local tourism resources, creating a competitive tourism product, creating conditions for the inclusion of residents in the practice of developing the tourist attractiveness of territories. The current study used methods of sociological research (a survey of local government leaders N = 356 experts), analysis of documents. The authors substantiate the conclusion that local authorities have the greatest potential for the formation of competitive, differentiated tourism products that are adequate to the expectations of various social groups. However, at  the present stage of  development of  the Russian society, the effectiveness of local authorities is limited by a number of dysfunctions: financial insecurity of local budgets, growth of municipal debt, orientation to the sale of municipal property, insufficient human resources, excessive control by federal and regional authorities. Under the current conditions, the key driver of cultural tourism is the expansion of the local governments capacity, the intensification of  private initiatives, the implementation of  the research exchange principles and mutually beneficial cooperation with business.