Transformation of Direct Democracy Mechanisms in the New Russian Law on Local Self-Government

The paper examines the amendments introduced by Federal Law No. 33-FZ dated 20 March 2025, concerning the regulation of direct democracy procedures at the local self-government level.

It outlines several general conclusions stemming from these legislative changes that characterize the current stage in the development of local direct democracy: a reduction in the overall diversity of direct democracy mechanisms; a narrowing of the scope for applying binding (mandatory) forms; a blending and hybridization of regulatory approaches to different forms of direct democracy; and the limited realization of the potential for digitalization in processes that enable public participation in decision-making at this level of government. The 2025 Law cannot be said to have resolved the longstanding conceptual issues underlying local direct democracy. For example, the distinction between binding and advisory forms has become even less clear. Nor has a coherent framework emerged to define the relationship between strictly «direct democracy» mechanisms and other forms that incorporate elements of direct popular expression alongside additional stages and procedures, thereby making them not entirely direct in nature. It was precisely these mechanisms that the 1995 Law on Local Self-Government referred to as «other forms of public participation in the exercise of local self-government». The article raises the question of whether it is necessary to develop scholarly arguments that, following the constitutional reform of 2020 and its establishment of the concept of a «unified system of public authority», could encourage lawmakers to advance initiatives promoting grassroots civic self-organization at the municipal level.

1. Batova O.S., SHalygina I.S. O stanovlenii i razvitii instituta starost sel'skih naselennyh punktov v sovremennoj Rossii // Municipal'naya sluzhba: pravovye voprosy. 2025. N 4. S. 25 - 28.

2. Bulgakova E.V., Krupkin P.R. Institut sel'skogo starosty v sisteme mestnogo samoupravleniya: istoriya i sovremennost' // Gosudarstvennaya vlast' i mestnoe samoupravlenie. 2022. N 10. S. 29 - 34.

3. Lipchanskaya M.A., CHannov S.E. Pravovoe obespechenie cifrovoj transformacii mestnogo samoupravleniya v Rossijskoj Federacii: problemy i perspektivy // Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. YUridicheskie nauki. 2024. N 2. S. 239 - 253.

4. Malyj A.F., Kachalov P.N., Artemova O.E. Samooblozhenie kak forma samoorganizacii grazhdan // Gosudarstvennaya vlast' i mestnoe samoupravlenie. 2022. N 1. S. 28 – 32.

5. Municipal'naya reforma v Rossijskoj Federacii: pravovoe i ekonomicheskoe issledovanie / Pod obshch. red. T.YA. Habrievoj. M., 2010.

6. Nudnenko L.A. Perspektivy razvitiya federal'nogo zakonodatel'stva o neposredstvennoj demokratii v sisteme mestnogo samoupravleniya // Konstitucionnoe i municipal'noe pravo. 2022. N 11. S. 3 - 8.

7. Pomazanskij A.E. Rol' institutov pryamoj demokratii v obespechenii kontrolya naseleniya za deyatel'nost'yu organov mestnogo samoupravleniya // ZHurnal rossijskogo prava. 2013. N 8. S. 13 - 24.

8. Pomazanskij A.E. Sootnoshenie tradicionnyh i novyh form uchastiya grazhdan v osushchestvlenii mestnogo samoupravleniya // ZHurnal rossijskogo prava. 2019. N 11. S. 58 - 68.

9. Sergeev A.A. Federalizm i mestnoe samoupravlenie kak instituty rossijskogo narodovlastiya. M., 2005.

10. Fadeev V.I. Mestnoe samoupravlenie v Rossii: istoricheskij opyt i sovremennaya praktika pravovogo regulirovaniya // Lex russica. 2014. N 4. S. 396 - 412.

11. SHarandina N.L. Uchastie naseleniya v byudzhetnom processe: samooblozhenie grazhdan i iniciativnoe byudzhetirovanie v Rossii // Bezopasnost' biznesa. 2022. N 5. S. 33 - 40.

12. SHugrina E.S. Municipal'naya demokratiya: tendencii razvitiya v materialah pravoprimenitel'noj praktiki // Pravoprimenenie. 2019. T. 3, № 3.