Transformation of Municipal Government in Moscow: 2017–2023

The concept of inner-city municipalities as a means of governing metropolitan cities has sparked considerable discussion and confusion in recent years. Most research has focused on the influence of political regime on the functioning of the municipalities as the main aspect of local governance in modern democracies. However, there is little research on non-democratic regimes within this context. Therefore, in this paper I focus on the evolution of local government in Russia, specifically examining the representative bodies of municipal government in Moscow during a period of substantial political and socio-economic upheaval following the 2017 and 2022 local elections to contribute to the discussion of the functioning of local government in non-democratic regimes, specifically to draw attention to a transformation of the inner-city managerial practices. In doing so, semi-structured interviews were conducted with municipal deputies from the last three councils, and data was analyzed in conjunction with the results of the 2017 and 2022 elections. Also the changes in budgets of municipal government of Moscow were examined. Findings question whether Moscow municipal government is relinquishing their functions and mechanisms due to changes in council compositions. This research offer insights into the underlying reasons and initial implications of the ongoing transformation within local government in Moscow. I present evidence suggesting that the transformation of the functional basis of the activities of municipal government in Moscow was facilitated by the changes in political affiliation of representative bodies observed during the 2023 and 2017 elections.