"According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in 1993, local autonomy is one of the fundamental principles of the constitutional system. The Politics of Local government in Russia aims to provide a dedicated and comprehensive discussion of the pursuit of local self-government in contemporary Russia in which "local" refers to the third tier of government beyond federal and regional governments. Some of the ablest scholars in the field focus on the existing institutional and social climate for municipal and district level government in Russia while placing recent reforms in a comparative and historical perspective."--BOOK JACKET.