NIZHNY NOVGOROD MAYORAL ELECTIONS IN 1998 AND 2002: LESSONS OF DEMOCRATIC FORMATION OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES

Abstract

Purpose of the study. The relevance of the article is due to scientific interest in recent events of modern Russia, the process of formation of executive and representative authorities in Russian municipalities. At the same time, historical science is not sufficiently present in this research field, giving priority to political scientists and sociologists. The presented article is intended to fill this gap. Materials and methods. The presented article is based on the study of scientific literature, archival materials, periodicals. The research is based on documents from the archives of the city of Nizhny Novgorod and the Central Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod region. At the same time, both general scientific and private methods of historical research are used: the concrete historical method, methods of using external and internal criticism of documents, comparative analysis. Study results. The article reveals the history of the election of the mayors of Nizhny Novgorod in 1998 and 2000. It shows the socio-economic and political situation in the city, which caused the difficult nature of both the election campaigns and their results. Moreover, in both cases, it was not without the use of “dirty electoral technologies”, the inability of the authorities to regulate the electoral process, up to the cancellation of the results of the already held elections. Conclusions. The experience of democratic formation of new municipal authorities testifies to the need for careful study of their legislative framework, thoughtful organization of the electoral process, the readiness of regional and central authorities to make non-standard decisions to correct the situation.