Self-administration and Development of Local Communities of North Caucasus: By the Example of Kabardino-Balkar Republic and Karachay-Cherkess Republic

Abstract

Purpose: this paper is aimed at studying the problem of formation of local self-government. Besides, the paper is focused on the issue of strategic control of development of municipal districts, which includes mechanisms of state administration, local self-government, traditional self-organization of local community in the territory of North Caucasus as exemplified by the two Republics—Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. Design/methodology/approach: The tools of systemic, structural functional, sociocultural, and institutional approaches were used in the process of substantiation of theoretical provisions, data analysis, conclusions and recommendations that allowed analyzing and taking the changes of local communities in the North Caucasus as a whole. Modern government institutions in the territory of the North Caucasus (based on the data from Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia) are analyzed as the studied material. The analysis of this paper was based on the results of field studies that were performed in 2014–2018 within the scope of the North Caucasian Complex Expedition from 2014 till 2018. A review of the literature on the selected topic has shown that the role and significance of self-government and the development of local communities of the North Caucasus are discussed in many papers of such scholars as Chechenov et al. [1], Kumykov et al. [2], Magomedov et al. [3], Smagina et al. [4], Popkova et al. [5], Azamatova et al. [6], Lokova et al. [7], Krasnokutskiy et al. [8], Reshetnikova et al. [9], Zmiyak et al. [10], Reshetnikova and Magomedov [11]. Findings: The authors have identified modern institutional self-governments at the local level, dynamic pattern of transformation of relations between the state and society, as well as problems and prospects of improvement of local self-government in the context of development strategies of rural settlements. Originality/value: The novelty of the approach consists in the substantiation of the systemic concept of local communities as specific territories that have a certain commonality of cultural, historical and state development.