Abstracts, 2002

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Serguei Morozov. Lobbying as a Phenomenon in Political Process. The article is dedicated to one of the problem aspects of public administration in contemporary Russia. The author characterises mechanisms for the promotion of the interests of leading groups acting in Russia's political arena and offers a typology
categorisation of such groups (continued from the 3rd issue of 2002).

Alina Kostyukova. On Local Self-government System and the Zemstvo Institutions in Russia: Possible Historical Parallels. The article aims at historical generalisation of the problems related to the re-organisation of the system of local self-government and analyses the essence and legislative functions of the zemsfvos in Russia during the liberal reform period of 1860s. Principles of the electoral system in Russia under the circumstances of centralisation and strengthening of the bureaucratic autocracy during the rule of Alexander III are also summarised.

Pavel Kitayev. On a Municipal Executive Body with General Competencies. The author analyses options available for the development of the legal pattern of local self-government in Russia in the course of creating the legal framework for dividing the competencies and authorities of various levels of government and describes the contemporary ideas of the organisation of local public authorities.

Pyotr Shevtsov. Cooperation of State Level Public Administration and Local Authorities in St. Petersburg. The article considers the issues of structuring the interface between local self-government system and state level public authorities and federal institutions. A plan for the creation of informational basis for the interface between state and municipal level administration in the case of St.Petersburg is offered.

Arnold Shalmuyev, Andrei Sukhotski. Experience of Public Regulation of Competitiveness of National Economy. The article considers main trends in the policies aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of national economy and analyses major trends in the development of international economic links as well as forms and methods of public sector influence upon the competitive edge of national economy in the regional context.

Georgy Bernatsky. The Problem of Reforming the Scope of Competencies of the Subjects of the Russian Federation in the Field of Inter-budgetary Relations. The article considers legal problems related to the organisation and regulation of inter-budgetary relations in RF subjects. Identified and assessed are the problems of the territory related levels of the public budget system under the conditions of transition period. It is offered to establish credit ratings for regions and municipalities.

Yaroslav Estchenko. Regionalisation: the Changing Architecture of the Country. The contribution covers reasons for the new regionalisation in Russia as well as political and economic aspects thereof. Economic regionalisation is viewed as a process closely connected with post-industrial economic development and globalisation and often having no relevance to the pace of political regionalisation of the country, which in the end may lead to conflicts and contradictions.

Elena Mamysheva, Alexander Raikov. Integrated System of Informational Support in Controlling Moscow's Construction Sector. The material views theoretical and practical aspects of controlling as a comprehensive managerial tool in the activities of large-size business entities on the example of Moscow's construction industry.

Special attention is paid to the principles of structuring integrated information backup systems destined to cover all the horizontal and vertical components of regular management.

Akhmed Yuzbekov. Regulating Function of Public Administration in Providing for Environmental Awareness of General Public. The article features presentation of some views on the problems of relation between the sustainable development approach declared at the 1992 Rio Conference and environmental education. In the author's opinion/sustainable development is based on environmental education; only really educated community perceiving itself as a part of the biosphere can provide for the future. Specific organisational measures for environmental education within the region are offered.

Tamara Makovnik. On the History and Role of the Treasury Department in the Management of Russia's Finance. The article undertakes to scrutinise historical lessons of public finance management in Russia and identifies specific features of the tasks and contents of the activities of the Treasury Department over different historical periods. The Editors publish the list of contributions made by authors and published in the journal in 1998-1999 and 2001-2002. The materials are allocated under sections used currently with references provided to the titles of previously used sections.

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Serguei MOROZOV. Lobbying as Phenomenon within Political Process. The article is dedicated to one of the problem areas in the public administration of contemporary Russia. The author describes mechanisms for the promotion of interests of leading groups acting in Russia's political ground and offers the typology categorisation of those groups.

Arkady GORBUNOV, Leonid KIM, Elena SOLDATOVA. Financial Problems Related to Imbalance in Federative Interests. The article contains an analysis of changes in inter-budgetary relations and sub-federal finance and indicates major trends in the evolution and reform of the budgetary federalism. The mechanism for the promotion of interests of the subjects of Russia's budgetary system is explained. Major trends in the budget policies are analysed.

Andrey VASETSKY, Viltaly VOLKOV. Political Aspects of Local Self-government. The article features a political analysis of the establishment of local self-government system and summarises problems and particulars of the emergence of local self-government as a social institute. Major political resources of local self-government are identified and explained.

Serguei RAFIKOV, Mikhail ELSUKOV, Svetlana CHUBINSKAYA-NADEZHDINA. Financial and Economic Basis for Functions of Local Self-government Authorities in St.-Petersburg. The article offers a retrospective analysis of environment in which local self-government system is emerging in St.Petersburg. Specifics of obtaining the financial resources for the development of local self-government in a large urban area are explained, and framework of the functioning of municipal districts in St.-Petersburg is shown.

Valentina CHANINA. Local Resources and Strategic Planning in  Municipality. In 2001, the Soltsy Rayon of Novgorod Oblast became one of the winners of the second tour of the Russian Small Cities Programme ran by Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation in Russia). The article tells about the process of developing the Strategy for Socio-economic Development of Soltsy Rayon, problems and difficulties encountered in the course of strategic planning on the municipal level and the role of consulting organisations.

Pyotr IVANOV, Serguei MALYSHEV. Topical Problems and Prospects of Information and Analytical Support to Regional Authorities. In the second part of this contribution (the first one published in the previous issue) further overage is offered of methodological approaches to management of analytical and prognostic activities for the purpose of preparing managerial decisions by the authorities. Technologies for the expert input are specifically focussed on, i.e. dispersed expertise network, situation centres and situation rooms. 

Olga KRESTYANINOVA. On Implementation of Unified Social Tax in Social Insurance System. The article features and analysis of the results from the introduction of unified social tax. Tax administration issues in the extra-budgetary funds existing in the RF are considered. Analysis of methods and principles for the implementation of unified social tax is made.

Larisa MAKHOVA, Serguei BOLSHAKOV, Pyotr ZOLIN. Economic Assessment of Business Integration Process. The article presents economic models for the assessment of integrated corporate entities. Three approaches to the assessment of the value of a company, namely, the income-based, net wealth based, and market one are identified. The economic model for the income assessment of a corporation comprises several models: risk accounting, consolidated risks and income-based assessment model. Those models are considered taking into account business risks.

Ulrich SONDERMANN. Ethical Standards in Public Service as Part of Good Governance. The material contains a general assessment of the opportunities for adjustment of the European experience of managing ethics in public service to the Russian practice, information about the major principles of the practical morale of public servants and requirements with respect to documents and legal acts covering ethical issues meant to improve the performance of public administration.

Valentina KARPUSHENKO, Margarita MASANOVA. Establishment of Urban Self-government in St.-Petersburg (Historical Review). The essay is dedicated to the historical analysis of the activities of the urban public self-government in St.-Petersburg in 1873-1883. The process of identifying authorities and competencies of the urban self-government authorities in St.-Petersburg in 1870s is analysed. Major aspects related to the emergence of the zemstvo self-government are dwelt upon.

In the Seminars and Conferences section, brief description of the outputs of the activities, which took place in Veliky Novgorod in September 2002 is provided: conference “Liberalism: a Chance for Russia” conducted by Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Germany) jointly with Novgorod Oblast Civil Service Committee on September 12; workshop “Securing the right of Citizens to Access Information as Means of Preventing Corruption (Regional Aspect)” conducted at Novgorod Oblast Administration by the Russian branch of Transparency International Centre for Anti-corruption research and Initiatives on September 19-20; workshop comprising discussion and analysis of Model Charter for Novgorod Oblast Municipalities and Model Memorandum of Understanding between the oblast and its municipalities conducted in the framework of Tacis “Regional Economic Development and Anti-Crisis Strategies” project on September 27.

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Alexey HNIKOV, Alexey VARFOLOMEYEV. Establishment of the Legal Environment for Russian and Foreign Investment: Status and Prospects. The expert contribution by the specialists of the Invest-In Group of Companies is dedicated to the analysis of the investment-related legislation in Russia.

Alyona BOYTSOVA, Serguei LEONTYEV. Land Issue in the Context of the Development of the Economic Environment for Small and Medium Enterprise. The article by the employees of the «Dialogue» Municipal Research and Education Institution covers the outputs of the sociological research conducted over a number of years in Veliky Novgorod.

Evguenia BARANOVA, Maxim VLADIMIROV. The Information Day as a Feedback Technique for the Interface between the Authorities and the Public. Employees of Novgorod Rblast Civil Service Committee make a survey of the 7-years experience of raising the public awareness by the Oblast Administration through holding the «0blast Information Days».

Pyotr IVANOV, Serguei MALYSHEV. Topical Problems and Prospects of Providing Information and Analytical Background for the Activities of Regional Authorities. The contribution by the Director of Novgorod Information and Analytical Centre and Editor-in-Chief of the Managerial Consulting journal features the discussion of methodological approach to the management of analytical and prognostic activities for the purpose of preparing and making decisions of operative, strategic and emergency nature by the authorities.

Wolfgang WEDDERKOPF. Current Approaches in Regional Strategy Planning and Regional Development Planning: Methodological Background and Philosophy. Tacis expert identifies the major European ideas with respect to regional development management.

Serguei BOLSHAKOV. On the Regulation of Regional Economic Development. Deputy Director of Veliky Novgorod Branch of Northwest Academy of Public Administration discusses topical problems related to the activities of the regional authorities for the establishment of the areas economic development environment.

Alexander GRIGORYEV. Methodological Aspect of the Usage of Natural Resources in the Region. The article by the instructor of Veliky Novgorod Branch of Northwest Academy of Public Administration analyses the general approach to the problem of the use of natural resources on the regional scale.

Ekaterina SOKOLSKAYA. Problems Related to Improvement of Regional and Municipal Socio-Economic Systems in the Free-market Environment. Graduate student of St.Petersburg Academy of Engineering and Economics scrutinises the issues related to the connection between the development of municipal entities and regions.

Violetta VOROBYOVA. Problems of Raising Municipalities Budget Potential in the Framework of Implementing Regional Financial Policies. Graduate student of Novgorod State University is scrutinising the practice of inter-budgetary relations between the municipality and the region and identifying the most acute problems in that field.

Denis SHTREIS. Development of Constitutional Framework and Building of State Institutions in England, Late XVII Early XVIII centuries. The author presents a lecture material for the students and teachers of Veliky Novgorod Branch of NWAPA meant for the study of international experience of state institution building.

Gennady LINKOV. From Symbol to Symbol or An Answer to the Careful Reader. Chief Designer of the «Managerial Consulting» journal is telling about the background ideas and symbols behind the design solution of the journal.

Tacis project «Regional Economic Development and Anti-crisis Strategies)). Workshop on the Code of Ethics for Public Servants. The journal publishes a survey of the workshop, which took place in Veliky Novgorod on 11.07.2002.

# 1 

Elena SOLDATOVA. Forms and Methods to Assess the Area’s Taxable Capacity Analysed. One of the important budgeting tools under the new tax law is discussed in the article by the Chair of Novgorod Oblast Committee of Finance.

Semyon KHOROSHUKHIN. Socio-economic Development Concept as the Most Important Tool for Sustainable Regional Development. Experience of elaboration of the annual regional development plan containing regional policy priorities, forecast of the results and criteria for their evaluation is reviewed in the article by First Deputy Chairman of Novgorod Oblast Economic Committee. 

Mikhail STAVROVSKY. Strategic Planning as an Urban Development Tool. Experience of urban development planning, major problems and relevant toolkit are described in the article by the Mayor of the city of Cherepovets, one of the major industrial centres of Northwest Russia.

Lyudmila IVANOVA. Territorial Community Self-government System in the City of Tver’: Major Trends and Forms of Support and Development. Experience of cooperation between local authorities and citizens for the purpose of supporting neighbourhood self-government in a large city is described in the article by Vice-Mayor of Tver’.

Alexander KRUPKIN. The Reality of Economic Revival and Human Resource Policies of Local Authorities. The policies of local authorities in terms of creating the human resources potential against the backdrop of changing socio-economic environment are discussed in the article by Head of Borovichi and Borovichi rayon – the second-largest municipality in Novgorod Oblast.

Alexander BELYAYEV. Dialogue between Mass Media and Authorities: Searching for the Optimal Formula. The article by the Mayor of the City of Severodvinsk of Arkhangelsk Oblast is dedicated to the choice of the mode for interface between the city authorities and mass media.

Alexey KOSTYUKOV. Political Administration and Political regime in the Contemporary Russia: Theoretical Problems Studied in the Regional Context. The contents of structural and qualitative changes occurred in Russia’s regional politics are analysed by the director of Veliky Novgorod branch of the Northwest Academy of Public Administration (NB NWAPA).

Alexander RAYKOV. Vertical Structure of Telecommunications and Local Horizons.  The article by the President of the “New Strategies Analytical Agency” contains discussion of the causes and effects of changes in the telecommunication market and the behaviour of regional authorities as one of the most important players.

Serguei Fabrichny, Nadezhda Ilyina. Approaches to Determining the Number of Full-time Staff of Local Self-government. Original methodology for planning the optimal number of staff on the basis of the analysis of functions performed by local self-government bodies is presented in the article by the Chairman and Deputy Head of Human Resources Department of Novgorod Oblast Civil Service Committee.

Christoph ZUERCHER. Tools for Measuring the Efficiency of Civil Servants and Public Administration. Outputs of the workshop on the criteria for assessing the efficiency of public administration and survey of the European experience are presented in the article by Tacis EU expert, senior researcher at the department of Political Science, Institute of East-European Studies of the Berlin Free University.

Serguei VASSILIEV. On the Code of Ethics for Regional and Municipal Public Servants in Novgorod Oblast.  Draft Code of Ethics developed by a group of authors on the basis of Russian and international experience is presented in the article by Tacis expert, Candidate of Technical Science, assistant professor of the Department of Administration and Law at NB NWAPA.

Emil MARKWART. Basics of Consulting. Practical Consulting in Public Administration. In the contribution by Project Leader of Ost-Euro consulting company (Germany), methodological basis is laid out for a curriculum recommended for training and qualification advancement of public servants.

Siv DAHLEN. Constructivism and Interaction in Distance Training. Senior instructor at the Pedagogic Institute, head of the distance training project at Uppsala University (Sweden) discusses key methodological and didactic principles of distance training, which is growing ever more popular in Russia, as well as elsewhere in the world.

Nickolai GRAZHDANKIN, Larisa MAKHOVA. Analytical Toolkit to Analyse Company’s Financial Sustainability. In the lecture material co-authored by Vice Governor of Novgorod Oblast, Candidate of Economic Science, Assistant Professor at NB NWAPA, and head of a department at the same institution, major methods of analysis and evaluation of the financial viability of companies in the contemporary economic environment are discussed.