printInstitutional Changes and the Dynamics of Trust to Local Authorities in Contemporary Russia
Petukhov R.V .
Cand. Sci. (Law), Leading Researcher of the Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia petukhovrv@yandex.ru
Petukhov R.V . Institutional Changes and the Dynamics of Trust to Local Authorities in Contemporary Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2024. No 11. P. 74-86
This article is dedicated to exploring institutional trust and how it is influenced by changes in the formal norms that constitute the relevant social institution. The study is based on the premise that trust arises not only from knowledge of the outcomes of the practical activities of organizational structures and individuals representing the institution but also from the approval of the formal norms that define its institutional organization. The subject of this research is the institution of local government, which has undergone significant transformations in Russia over the past three decades. The author proposes a working definition of the “local government institution” concept and describes the changes it has undergone since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The analysis of the institutional organization of local government is framed by two organizational models—”municipal governance” and “local self‑government.” The transition from one model to the other is considered a pivotal event in the contemporary history of the Russian local government institution. Based on data of public opinion monitoring surveys conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FCTAS RAS) from 2014 to 2020, the article examines the dynamics of trust and distrust in local government during the transition from the “local self‑government” model to the “municipal governance” model. The findings reveal that, despite a general satisfaction of the majority of respondents with the conditions in their municipalities, there was a sharp decline of trust in local government in 2015–2016, coinciding with the active phase of institutional reforms.
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