How to improve the standard of living of the population. Problems of increasing the level and quality of life of the population of the Russian Federation. clean environment
The process of increasing the level and quality of life of the population is a dynamic process and requires constant regulation. Taking into account that this process cannot be carried out spontaneously, it is necessary to indicate who and for what purpose carries out a conscious influence on the level and quality of life of the population.
In the economic literature, considerable attention is paid to the characteristics of the subjects (participants in the process) who should ensure an increase in the level and quality of life. At the same time, various researchers most often highlight the state as a priority subject. Thus, denoting the quality of life as the most important state priority and one of the promising directions of socio-economic development of Russia, government officials note that many citizens still believe that ensuring a decent quality of life is the task of the authorities, and neither business nor the public can and should not interfere in solving this problem.
You can come across statements that the main subject ensuring an increase in the level and quality of life is not the state and government, but a creative person, whose resources are inexhaustible. This opinion belongs to the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of Social Technologies and Local Self-Government, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, prof. Patrushev V.I.
A number of experts insist that the process of improving the level and quality of life of the population should be carried out by representatives of the local community. Social self-organization will allow you to equip your territory, create favorable living conditions not only for yourself, but also
for future generations.
In contrast to these opinions, Petrov N.P. believes that exactly
Russian business must take responsibility for improving the level and quality of life. Turkin S.V. and Anokhin M.G. raise the question of the social responsibility of Russian business, the participation of business structures in solving social problems of enterprises, organizations, cities, regions, and the whole society.
Thus, today the subjects carrying out the process of improving the level and quality of life are seen as the state represented by representatives of federal, regional and local authorities, the business community (various commercial structures) and the person himself (or an association of people).
Summarizing the opinions of scientists and based on our own vision of the essence of the process of increasing the level and quality of life, it can be presented in the form of the following model (Fig. 15).
Undoubtedly, the main subject of influence on the quality and standard of living of the country's population is the state, which determines minimum social standards, carries out state social transfers, improves the social environment, guarantees freedom of choice for people, and controls the cleanliness of the environment.
Rice. 15.
Source:
The Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, in light of the implementation of constitutional guarantees and rights of citizens of the Russian Federation, the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, as well as the most important decisions taken by the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation, formulated a mission, which is to develop human capital and help improve the demographic situation , increasing the level and quality of life through increasing incomes of the population, improving health, creating conditions for decent work and productive employment, strengthening social protection of vulnerable groups of the population. All these issues are reflected in social policy, budget policy and tax policy, which are a necessary tool in the process of improving the quality of life of the population.
Today, priority national projects implemented in problematic areas of our country’s life: healthcare, education, housing construction and agriculture are a new tool for influencing the quality of life. The priority of these areas is clear, since they affect every person, determine the quality of life and form “human capital” - an educated and healthy nation. The social well-being of society and the demographic well-being of the country depend on the state of these areas.
The comprehensive role of the authorities in the process of improving the quality of life should be manifested: in concern for replenishing the treasury, reasonable budget planning; in environmental protection; in creating conditions for improving the quality of life by citizens themselves (conditions for earning money, access to education and medical care); in increasing payments to socially vulnerable segments of the population; in activating business towards social responsibility and forming partnerships with the business community.
Figure 16 shows the most relevant ways, in the author’s understanding, of increasing the level and quality of life of the population for modern Russia.
Paths of a social nature are, first of all, a system of social
protection aimed at supporting disabled and difficult citizens of the country; establishing minimum
social standards, which are standards for the formation of social and economic policies of both the state itself and enterprises and organizations; implementation of priority national projects aimed at improving the standard of living of the population by increasing funding for key areas of increasing well-being.
Economic ways to improve the quality of life include
development and support of small business as one of the sectors of the economy that ensures self-employment of the population; ban on the development of industries
economies degrading society and contradicting social
standards of morality and ethics (for example, gambling, prostitution, production of narcotic substances, etc.); transition to innovation in all spheres of life, promoting the search and use in practice of new achievements of science and technology; intensification of production to increase the volume of material goods through resource conservation programs (primarily natural resources and electricity).
Today, the social role of business is increasing. This is due to the fact that there is a growing understanding of the benefits of having as workers or buyers people who are more educated and live in better conditions than the poor and ignorant. Social responsibility cannot be imposed on businesses, since they will not participate in obviously unprofitable programs, or in proposals to simply give money to the state. Therefore, one of the possible ways to improve the quality of life of the population through business opportunities is to intensify the implementation of the concept of social responsibility.
Along with the state, business acts as a “source” of satisfying human needs. Their main task is to satisfy material needs and create conditions for satisfying spiritual ones.
However, all measures aimed at improving the quality of life of the population can be effectively implemented only by combining the efforts of all subjects in the process of improving the quality of life. For objective reasons, these efforts are unequal. For example, the construction of cultural and leisure facilities does not yet mean an increase in the cultural level of the population, since these facilities may remain either unclaimed by the population or demanded by a small part of it, which also has a low level of cultural and aesthetic tastes and demands.
Based on this, it can be assumed that if the efforts of one subject increase while the contribution of the other (or others) decreases or remains unchanged, then an increase in the quality of life of the population will not be observed. Thus, achieving the goal in the process of improving the quality of life of the population becomes dependent on the joint efforts of all participants in the process.
In order to realize this goal, the main directions of social policy should be:
Creating conditions and opportunities for all able-bodied citizens to earn money to meet their needs;
Ensuring rational employment of the population based on preserving jobs in vital and promising enterprises, creating new jobs, including in the private sector of the economy;
Creation of a flexible system of training and retraining of personnel;
Ensuring the growth of real cash incomes of the population;
Consistently increasing the level of wages as the main source of cash income for the population and the most important incentive for the labor activity of hired workers;
Formation of the middle class as a factor in stabilizing society based on a significant increase in the monetary income of the population and a decrease in the level of poverty;
Increasing social protection for those in need by strengthening the targeting of assistance, rationalizing the system of benefits, improving social services, and others.
Despite the fact that Brazil has a number of problems in ensuring a decent standard of living for the population, nevertheless, the experience of this country can be very valuable for Russia. The value of Brazil's experience lies, first of all, in the fact that recent reforms have significantly improved the level and quality of life of the Brazilian population.
In recent years, the Government of Brazil has been implementing several programs to reduce poverty in Brazil. According to the “My Home, My Life” program, all Brazilians with an income of less than 1,600 reais (about $700) will be able to buy decent housing because the federal government will pay 90% of its cost.
Under this program, a large-scale plan was implemented to build affordable housing for the poor. For 2009-2011 About 1 million apartments were built, and the total amount of financing amounted to 16.1 billion dollars. Thus, the government not only solved the most pressing social issue for Brazil, but also created more than 1 million new jobs. Funding for the program was distributed as follows: $6.8 billion was allocated from the federal budget, $5.1 billion from the state pension fund FGTS, the rest from state banks and regional and municipal authorities.
The program is primarily aimed at the huge layer of poor people living in the so-called favelas - Brazilian slums.
The program for the construction of affordable housing included eight economic categories of citizens and three basic monthly salary levels (the highest is about $1,900). At the same time, the poorest received an interest-free loan and paid about $9 a month, having already moved into a new apartment. And the loan rate for the wealthiest did not exceed 5%. In addition, special protective mechanisms are in place to ensure that those who lose their jobs are not left homeless.
Under the Affectionate Brazil program, citizens with children under the age of 15 receive assistance for each child in the amount of 70 reais ($33). These programs have already shown their results: during 2012, the number of poor people in Brazil decreased by 6.4 million people.
Brazil's healthcare system also deserves attention.
The country has a so-called Unified Health Care System, which everyone can use, but at the same time, there is also private medicine. Of the country's 180 million population, 68% have only state health insurance.
Doctors in Brazil are classified as people of liberal professions, along with lawyers and journalists. The number of leaders among doctors is minimal. Hospitals are run by managers and nurses work there on a permanent basis. Doctors just come for examination. In severe cases, patients are treated by intensive care doctors, of whom there are 5-10 in the entire hospital.
In Brazil, a number of interventions have been implemented to improve access to health services for the poorest members of society. These activities include:
Implementation of primary health care programs;
Targeting special health programs to meet the needs of the poor;
Implementation of programs that provide cash incentives/rewards to municipalities that provide health services to poor families;
As well as the payment of cash incentives to the poorest families living in these municipalities who properly use the available health and education services provided by
government agencies.
IN Brazil patients are very well socially protected. Here, hemodialysis, all cardiovascular surgeries and other high-tech procedures are paid for by the state. Treatment AIDS, hepatitis C (starting with certain changes), pulmonary diseases; insulin, all medications for diabetics and much more - everything lies with the state. (Which largely served to eliminate bribery in this area.).
The state guarantees qualified medical care to everyone without exception. Even if a tourist ends up with a heart attack in a public hospital, he will be provided with assistance, and no one will demand his insurance policy. In a critical situation, he will be helped at the expense of the Brazilian state.
A Brazilian citizen has the right to medical service;, can take advantage of all the procedures and also receive free medicine. A well-thought-out tax policy provides this opportunity. In Russia, income tax is 13%, there it is 27%. In addition, 1% of any banking transaction goes to healthcare. The huge list of free medications includes expensive drugs, contraceptives, and much more. Some cosmetic and plastic surgeries are performed free of charge, especially after burns and injuries.
Another important social initiative of the government of Dilma Rousseff is the provision of state support to small agricultural producers and farmers. The plan, called Safra for Family Agriculture, aims to improve living and working conditions for millions of smallholders. The government is providing them with preferential loans equivalent to $10 billion for the upcoming agricultural season. These measures have increased productivity in the farming sector and improved the quality of life of producers, especially among those most in need, including Indian agricultural workers.
Also, the Brazilian authorities support the country's agricultural sector, allocating an amount equal to 67 billion 850 million dollars for its development. These subsidies are aimed primarily at increasing the seed fund and developing the country's sugar industry.
Thus, for Russia, the experience of Brazil is very indicative - they are actively fighting poverty and providing support to the population through the implementation of special programs. To improve the standard of living of Russians, it is also necessary to implement Federal programs and look for an individual approach to supporting the poorest and most socially vulnerable population. In Russia it is also necessary to provide for the construction of low-cost housing for the poor. It is also very useful to adopt the positive experience of Brazil in organizing the healthcare system, because almost all indicators of the level and quality of life depend on the health of the nation.
In the current situation, an active government policy is needed aimed at improving the quality and standard of living of the population, and as a result, at increasing public welfare. In modern Russia, the most pressing problems of increasing living standards are ensuring employment, strengthening social protection of the population, fighting poverty, and therefore a program to improve living standards of the population should include the following areas: 1 . Creating conditions for income growth and poverty reduction. Currently, low income levels and high levels of poverty are one of the barriers to economic growth. Wage growth must be accompanied by increased labor productivity and the creation of new jobs. At the same time, it is necessary to pay special attention to improving the living standards of public sector workers, primarily doctors, teachers, and scientists, and it is necessary to continue increasing pensions. 2 . Providing citizens with affordable housing. Currently, the housing problem in the country is being solved unsatisfactorily. There is a very large stock of housing that does not meet modern living standards. The purchase of modern housing is available only to 7-10 percent of the wealthiest citizens. In order to form an affordable housing market, a comprehensive solution to issues related to increasing the effective demand of the population for housing is required, based on the development of long-term housing lending at lower interest rates and increasing the volume of housing construction. Those. it is necessary to solve the following problems: development of long-term housing lending to citizens, including mortgage lending; creating conditions for increasing the volume of housing construction; determining the procedure for providing housing, expanding measures to provide assistance to those categories of citizens who need special support, including young families. 3 . Modernization of the education system. The existing education system does not fully meet the needs of the labor market, because more than half of graduates of higher educational institutions do not find work in their specialty, which in turn reduces the flow of qualified personnel into the economy. In this area, professional training is simply necessary in accordance with the modern needs of the labor market; increasing the availability of quality educational services, especially for low-income citizens, including through the provision of social support for students, including the provision of scholarships; introduction and development of educational technologies. 4 . Increasing accessibility and quality of medical care. This problem can be solved by establishing state guarantees for the provision of free medical care to the population; ensuring the availability of medicines to the general public; development of voluntary medical insurance and improvement of the procedure for the provision of paid medical services. This will improve the socio-demographic characteristics in our country, namely, increase the birth rate, reduce the mortality rate and increase the life expectancy of people. 5 . Providing citizens with jobs and creating favorable working conditions, because Currently, there is a sharp differentiation in the levels of remuneration of managers and ordinary workers, as well as in the level of average per capita monetary income between regions. Increasing the level and quality of life of the population can be achieved through the interaction of the state and the population, with the timely resolution of important problems, with the state realizing the need to help people who really want to improve their situation, but are unable to do this without support. If people strive for a better life, and the state, in turn, contributes to these improvements, perhaps in the coming years the standard of living of the Russian population will increase.
The problem of the socio-economic development of the state is relevant, first of all, due to its influence on the quality and standard of living of the population.
We all know what income is, how it is formed, distributed and what types of income exist. But it is worth paying attention to the fact that not the entire population has a chance to receive this income in its entirety and spend it properly on necessary goods that directly affect our standard of living.
The majority of the population of the Russian Federation, receiving part of their income, form the basis of the country’s economic well-being and determine the standard of living. The standard of living is understood as the totality of material and spiritual benefits received by the citizens of the country in exchange for their cash income, as well as funds received from public (state) and other funds.
Every person wants to have decent housing, quality medical care, higher education that will guarantee future employment, social and pension services, etc. But due to the uneven distribution of income, we have factors that negatively affect our lifestyle and economic well-being.
The UN Commission proposes a number of indicators of living standards; it includes a wide range of characteristics that reflect the living conditions of the world's people. There are 12 groups of indicators: 1) demographic situation in the country: birth rate, death rate and other characteristics; 2) sanitary and hygienic living conditions; 3) consumption of food products; 4) living conditions; 5) education and culture; 6) working conditions and employment; 7) income and expenses of the population; 8) cost of living and consumer prices; 9) availability of vehicles; 10) organization of recreation; 11) social security; 12) human rights.
Questions arise: Which of the people currently living in our country are satisfied with their standard of living and well-being? Who has the opportunity to receive all the necessary benefits for existence? If income is distributed unevenly, then where is the line between poverty and a dignified existence?
For this purpose, an indicator such as the poverty line is used. It reflects the level of income that is needed to maintain an acceptable minimum standard of living. The poverty line varies from country to country: in developed countries it is much higher than in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
In 2014, the cost of living averaged 6,705 rubles. per month, of which 2412 rubles. was provided for food, 1057 rubles - for all non-food products (including medicines), 2754 rubles - for all services (including housing and communal services and transport), and the rest - for taxes and other mandatory payments and fees. Considering the real cost of housing and communal services or medicines alone, it is clear that the calculated level is far from practice.
According to statistics, in Russia 8.8% of the population, or 12.5 million people, are officially considered poor (that is, they have an income below the established subsistence level). Sociologists have divided our poor into 2 groups: the poor “by income” and the poor “by deprivation”. The first are those whose income per family member does not exceed the official minimum. The second are people who find themselves in a difficult financial situation due to the hardships they experience even with relatively good incomes (illness, dependents, etc.). Statistics do not take into account people who are poor not by income, but “by deprivation,” but there are no fewer of them.
To determine fairness in income distribution, the indicator of the Italian statistician Corrado Gini is used. The Gini coefficient can take a value from 0 to 1. If G = 0 means uniform distribution, G = 1 is the extreme case when only one person has the trait. Thus, most regions of Russia are characterized by excessively high values of the Gini coefficient.
Table 1 Ratio of the highest value of the Gini indicator among regions for 2013
|
Regions with the best values |
Regions with the worst values |
Coefficient differentiation |
||
|
Ivanovskaya |
Nenets Autonomous Okrug |
|||
|
Tver region |
Saint Petersburg |
|||
|
Republic Ingushetia |
Tyumen region |
|||
|
Republic |
Samara Region |
|||
|
Vladimirovskaya |
||||
The interregional distribution of income according to the Gini coefficient was 1.49 times. At the same time, in 47 regions of Russia the Gini coefficient was excessive. The highest Gini coefficient relative to acceptable values was in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Tyumen, Samara and Sakhalin regions.
Thus, deviations in the standard of living of the population within the federal districts of the country are also significant, which leads to an increase in regional migration of the population, especially to areas of large metropolitan areas.
To reduce poverty and reduce income inequality, the state is pursuing appropriate social policies. It includes a set of measures to maintain the level of income of citizens and create conditions to meet their primary needs.
Today, a number of government assistance programs are being implemented that provide support to the population, including:
– maternal (family) capital is a form of state support for Russian families raising children. This support is provided from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016 at the birth or adoption of a second, third or subsequent child with Russian citizenship. Today the amount of capital is 429.408 thousand rubles, in 2015 the amount of capital will be 450.878 thousand rubles.
– unemployment benefits, the minimum amount of unemployment benefits is 850 rubles, and the maximum amount is 4900 rubles.
– state program “Young Family”, operating in Krasnodar and the Krasnodar Territory.
The implementation of the strategic goals of the concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation in the period up to 2020 requires achieving social harmony, promoting the development of mechanisms for social adaptation and social support of the population, and reducing social inequality. It is necessary to ensure the formation of a system of social support and adaptation that meets the needs of modern society, implements, in addition to social protection, the functions of social development and creates accessible mechanisms of a “social elevator” for everyone, including socially vulnerable categories of the population.
The main targets of social policy are:
– reducing the level of absolute and relative poverty, increasing the middle class to more than half the population by 2020;
-decrease in differentiation of the population by income level from 16.8 times in 2007 to 12 times in 2020;
– solving the problem of homelessness in 2015;
To solve by 2020 one of the most pressing problems of the elderly population - to fully satisfy the need for constant outside care, it is planned to achieve by 2020 the level of employment of disabled people in the Russian Federation to 40% of the total number of disabled people.
Thus, the state, through these reforms, is trying to change the situation of the citizens of our country for the better, thereby ensuring a decent socio-economic state of the country as a whole.
Bibliography
1. Gryaznova A.G., Yudanova A.Yu. Microeconomics: Theory and Russian practice: a textbook for universities. Ed. 9th, corrected, additional. – M.: KNORUS. – 2011
2. Ivashkovsky, S. N. Macroeconomics: textbook / S. N. Ivashkovsky – 2nd ed. – M.: Delo, 2012 – Ch. 17. – p. 447.
3. Official website of the “Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation” URL: http://www.rosmintrud.ru/employment/employment/347
4. Official website of the “Pension Fund of the Russian Federation” URL:
INCREASING THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE POPULATION OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE RF AS A PRIORITY FOR IMPROVING PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
The priority goal of any state in many spheres of state and public life is to solve urgent socio-economic problems and, as a result, improve the quality of life of citizens through creating conditions for decent work and productive employment, improving public health, and increasing real incomes.
In the current conditions, improving the quality of life of the population is a priority direction of national development for the long term. The main methods for solving quality of life issues are to increase the overall level of socio-economic development of the country and region, as well as the development and implementation of relevant programs.
In the Constitution of the Russian Federation - the main document of the country, and in the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation (for the period from 2008 to 2020), which has the status of a state program, one of the priority goals is the creation of conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of people . The quality of life of the population is the most important criterion for assessing the effectiveness of achieving the stated goal. Today, despite some improvement in the situation in the social sphere at the state level, the problem of territorial unevenness of socio-economic development remains relevant and acute. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in Russia, the satisfaction of the material, spiritual, cultural and social needs of an individual person (or family) largely depends on the territory of residence.
Effective growth in the quality of life of the population of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation largely depends on improving the quality of regional governance. To a large extent, the socio-economic well-being of a particular subject of the Russian Federation in the medium and long term depends on the quality of management and the effective use of modern public management tools.
Public management arose along with the development of the school of public policy and represents the organization of the process of effective management within government agencies. Its fundamental principle is the reorientation of the work of government agencies to achieve specific results and qualitatively meet the needs of the population. Public management is aimed at increasing organizational efficiency, which implies establishing feedback with the population, allowing timely receipt of up-to-date information and making innovative changes to the work process in accordance with the needs of consumers of public services. Feedback is also a form of monitoring the work of officials.
The task of improving the quality of life of the population is a national task that can only be solved through the joint efforts of all levels of government (federal, regional, municipal). The priority of the authorities’ activities is to consistently improve the quality of life of the population, reduce poverty, provide decent living conditions for people and develop a social state.
From a practical point of view, every person positively assesses the quality of their life if there is an interesting job, a decent salary, comfortable and convenient housing, as well as a complete social infrastructure of the living environment.
In Fig. 1 presents the main guidelines for the activities of state and municipal authorities in the field of improving the quality of life of the population of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
Rice. 1. Main guidelines for the activities of state and municipal authorities in the field of improving the quality of life of the population of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation Source: comp. auto
Quality of life is an integral indicator of the organization of life in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and largely depends on the completeness and quality of services provided to citizens by federal and municipal services, on the direct activities of state authorities and municipal governments aimed at meeting the daily living needs of residents and their families, on the efficiency “feedback” of society and the state. It should be noted that the quality of life of the population depends not only on the level of material well-being and improvement of populated areas, but also on the creation by public authorities of the opportunity for the population (the business community and individual citizens) to participate in the joint adoption of vital decisions (for example, on the development of , adoption and implementation of territorial development programs, ensuring public order), which in turn increases the level of public trust in public authorities, the degree of satisfaction with their living conditions, the social significance of citizens and generally improves the moral and psychological climate in society.
Currently, at the federal level, there is no approved federal program or concept for improving the quality of life with a clear statement of objectives and criteria for assessing the effectiveness of implementation. At the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, separate attempts are being made and there is already experience in developing and implementing regional programs and concepts for improving (increasing) the quality of life of the population (Table 1).
Table 1
Brief description of program documents adopted in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to increase (improve) the quality of life of the population
Many constituent entities of the Russian Federation are adopting targeted programs to improve the quality of life of older citizens (for example, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Chelyabinsk regions, the Republic of Adygea, the Udmurt Republic, etc.), and also creating special structures designed to monitor monitor the quality of life of the region’s population and take prompt action to improve it. Thus, under the Administration of the Kemerovo Region there is a coordination and analytical council on the quality of life of the region’s population. In 2011, in the Volgograd region, on the initiative of deputies of the regional parliament, a Public Expert Council on the quality of life of the population of the Volgograd region was formed, consisting of civil servants, specialists from supervisory authorities, and social activists. However, in practice, these structures only consider current problems of housing and communal policy, the healthcare system, education, etc., without taking any action to solve them.
The quality of life of the population is an indicator of the effectiveness of public administration. The desire to improve the efficiency of public administration is one of the strategic objectives of modern society, associated with government reforms carried out in Russia in recent years aimed at improving the quality and standard of living of the population.
In Russia, improving the quality of life of the population is currently one of the main strategic goals of the state, defined by the President of the Russian Federation. The President of the Russian Federation has repeatedly emphasized that increasing the standard of living of Russian citizens should be achieved by increasing the efficiency and quality of work of the state apparatus. In May 2012, a number of decrees were adopted, aimed, among other things, at improving public administration. Among the main directions of this improvement that are interesting to the authors in the context of this article, we highlight the following:
1. Improving the process of providing state and municipal services.
2. The functioning of the system for disclosing information about draft regulatory legal acts being developed and the results of their public discussion.
3. Creating conditions for effective interested dialogue and interaction between the authorities and the public (including on issues of improving the quality of life of citizens, the effectiveness of current policies and the prospects for the country’s socio-economic development) through the functioning of the concept of the “Russian Public Initiative”.
4. Providing Internet access to open data contained in the information systems of government bodies of the Russian Federation.
5. Improvement and development of the institution for assessing the regulatory impact of draft regulatory legal acts.
6. Development and implementation of a mechanism for public monitoring, evaluation and real influence of citizens on the actions of the authorities in the interests of compliance with the provisions of the Constitution through the establishment of criteria and procedures for citizens to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities of leaders: territorial bodies of federal executive authorities, their structural divisions; local government bodies. The results of this assessment can be used as a basis for making decisions on the early termination of the performance of their official duties by the relevant managers.
7. Development of new mechanisms for the formation of public councils under government bodies of the Russian Federation
Let us consider in more detail the implementation of the above areas for improving public administration and the nature of their impact on the quality of life of the population.
The creation and development of a network of MFCs for the provision of state and municipal services, operating on the “one window” principle, makes life easier for citizens and businesses as it helps to reduce the time it takes to provide services, reduce the risk of corruption, time and financial costs when receiving services and, ultimately, increasing the level of citizen satisfaction with the work of government bodies.
The transition to providing government services electronically has significantly increased their accessibility, reduced corruption risks, and reduced the time and financial costs of the state and citizens. The unified portal of public services gosuslugi.ru has been operating since December 15, 2009.
To ensure improved quality and accessibility of mass and socially significant public services to citizens, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia conducts annual monitoring of the quality and accessibility of public services, as well as studies of the degree of satisfaction of citizens with the quality of the activities of state authorities and local governments in terms of the provision of state, municipal services and the implementation of control and supervisory functions. This monitoring is one of the tools for obtaining objective information about the degree of satisfaction of citizens with the quality of activities of state authorities and local governments in terms of the provision of state and municipal services. Among other things, monitoring allows us to determine the level of citizens’ trust in the transformations that are being carried out at the state level to improve services to the population.
In accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 12, 2012 No. 1284 “On citizens’ assessment of the effectiveness of the activities of heads of territorial bodies of federal executive bodies (their structural divisions), taking into account the quality of their provision of public services, as well as on the use of the results of this assessment as the basis for decision-making on early termination of performance by the relevant managers of their official duties" on a specialized resource on the Internet – vashkontrol.ru – collecting opinions on the quality of the most widespread and socially significant government services. The assessment is carried out directly by service recipients on their own initiative in questionnaires that are filled out on the website vashkontrol.ru. The assessment of the quality of public services is carried out according to such criteria as waiting time in line, politeness of the employee, comfort of conditions, availability of information about the procedure for obtaining services, etc.
The results obtained during the collection of citizens’ opinions on the quality of services are involved in the calculation of indicators and ratings of departments and services immediately after the applicant fills out the questionnaire, and can also be compared with the results of other types of monitoring (monitoring the quality of electronic services, monitoring satisfaction with the quality of services based on the results of sociological surveys, etc.) on indicators of satisfaction and quality of provision of public municipal services. The results of this assessment can be used as a basis for applying disciplinary measures provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation on the state civil service against the corresponding head of the territorial body of the federal executive body (its structural unit).
Currently, work continues in the Russian Federation to increase the information transparency of public management. Thus, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 2012 No. 851, the Russian Federation has created a system for disclosing information about the draft regulatory legal acts being developed and the results of their public discussion. In June 2013, President V.V. Putin signed Federal Law No. 112-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” and the Federal Law “On Ensuring Access to Information on the Activities of State Bodies and Local Government Bodies”, aimed at further implementing the policy on ensuring openness of information about the activities of state bodies and local governments.
Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 183 “On the consideration of public initiatives sent by citizens of the Russian Federation using the Internet resource “Russian Public Initiative”” approved the Rules for the consideration of public initiatives of citizens of the Russian Federation. A specialized website on the Internet, on which citizens of the Russian Federation can put forward their public initiatives (proposals on the socio-economic development of the country, improving state and municipal governance) using a special Internet resource www.roi.ru, implemented at the federal level, works with April 15, 2013. At the regional and municipal levels should start working from November 1, 2013.
In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 183, regional expert working groups have been created in many constituent entities of the Russian Federation to consider public initiatives and regulations on these groups have been approved (for example, Astrakhan, Kaluga, Murmansk, Rostov, Sakhalin, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk regions, the Republic of Adygea, Kalmykia, Komi).
Compared to federal authorities, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities should be as accessible as possible to citizens. Therefore, active work is being carried out to introduce “Open Government” at the regional level in the form of the “Open Region” module, the main goals of which are to increase the efficiency of state and municipal governance, ensure openness of government, and involve civil society in state and municipal governance. The results of the rating of openness of the government of Russian regions, published by the Institute for the Development of the Information Society in 2012, indicate the maximum openness (compared to other constituent entities of the Russian Federation) of the governments of the Ulyanovsk region, Moscow, Penza region, the Republic of Buryatia and the Ivanovo region.
One of the current directions for implementing information transparency of public management at the regional level is the disclosure of information on state (municipal) expenditures (presentation of budgets and reports on their execution) in an informative and compact form that is understandable to an untrained user. Currently, this direction is being implemented in the form of disclosing the budget of the city of Moscow (budget.mos.ru), Volgograd region (budget.volganet.ru/budget/), Leningrad region (budget.lenobl.ru/), Saratov region (saratov.ifinmon .ru/), Tula region (dfto.ru/www/open/), etc.
In January 2013, the Moscow Government launched its own open data portal (data.mos.ru/), on the basis of which mobile applications were created: for making an appointment with a doctor, for calling a taxi, etc. In addition, non-profit projects operate, dedicated to the accessibility of information disclosed by the state to citizens, such as OpenGovData.ru (a project by I. Begtin) and GisLab.info (open data on the boundaries of specially protected natural areas of federal subordination of the Russian Federation).
The Institute for Regulatory Impact Assessment, which has been actively developing in the Russian Federation since 2010, is focused on improving the quality of law-making and creating transparent and understandable mechanisms for making informed regulatory decisions. Using the public consultation procedure at the stage of legislative initiative, a barrier is created to the promotion of insufficiently developed solutions, which may subsequently entail unjustified costs for entrepreneurs and the state budget, i.e. measures are being taken to level out the possible negative impact of the adopted acts on the investment and business climate. The final adoption of regulatory documents is carried out upon reaching a consensus of interested parties.
To post information on the development of draft regulatory legal acts by federal executive authorities and the results of their public discussion, a specially created Unified portal regulation.gov.ru has been developed and is operating normally since April 15, 2013. From January 1, 2013 at the regional level the regulatory impact assessment procedure was introduced in 20 pilot regions, incl. in the Krasnodar region, Astrakhan region, Volgograd region.
In fact, the subject of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District that has fully implemented regulatory impact assessment is the Krasnodar Territory. The Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions are among the subjects of the Russian Federation of the Southern Federal District that are actively promoting the institution of regulatory impact assessment, the Republic of Kalmykia is among the regions with low activity. In the Republic of Adygea, no actions are being taken to introduce a regulatory impact assessment procedure.
According to the results of the third round of monitoring of the implementation of the institute for assessing regulatory impact in the decision-making mechanism in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (April 2013), conducted by the National Institute for Systematic Research of Entrepreneurship Problems, the Top 10 constituent entities of the Russian Federation included: Sverdlovsk, Ulyanovsk, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Volgograd, Lipetsk and Kaluga regions, Chuvash and Udmurt Republics, Republic of Tatarstan and Krasnodar Territory.
Increasing the efficiency of government agencies is one of the main directions for improving the public administration system of the Russian Federation. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1284 provides for citizens to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities of heads of territorial bodies of federal executive authorities (their structural divisions) by collecting opinions on the quality of the most widespread and socially significant government services. Citizens can evaluate the quality of public services according to such criteria as: waiting time in line, politeness of the employee, comfort of conditions, availability of information about the procedure for obtaining services, etc. In this case, the results of this assessment can be used as a basis for applying disciplinary measures provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation on the state civil service against the corresponding head of the territorial body of the federal executive body (its structural unit).
Federal Law No. 32-FZ “On the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation” gives executive authorities the opportunity to form public councils. Thus, under each Ministry (Committee) of the region, in accordance with the Decree of the Governor of the Volgograd Region dated May 12, 2012 No. 317 “On the formation of Public Councils under the executive authorities of the Volgograd Region,” Public Councils were organized. A Public Council under the Governor of the Volgograd Region has also been created. This form of interaction between government and civil society is used by the top leadership of the country and in almost all constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Practice shows that this is one of the effective forms of interaction between government and civil society.
The main task of the Public Councils is to assist the executive branch in quickly solving the industry’s priority problems. The Public Council is a permanent expert and advisory body and ensures interaction between the population of the region and the Ministry (Committee) in order to take into account their needs and interests when the Ministry (Committee) carries out the functions assigned to it and in order to exercise public control over its activities.
To improve the quality of life of the population of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in our opinion, it is necessary:
1. Study and summarize:
– foreign experience in the development of social standards for the quality and standard of living and social protection of the population, state social standardization;
– domestic experience of regions that have the best achievements in certain areas of improving the quality of life of the population, use the results obtained when solving problems in the socio-economic development of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
2. Adopt a federal law on the development of standards for the level and quality of life of the population in Russia, ensuring (in accordance with Article 19 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) social equality of all citizens of the country, regardless of their place of residence.
3. Develop a comprehensive, scientifically based long-term federal concept for sustainable improvement of the quality of life of citizens of the Russian Federation.
4. Approve a unified system of indices - parameters by which the assessment and planning of the quality of life of the population should be carried out.
5. Organize a socio-scientific expert council on issues of quality of life of the population of Russia (consisting of specialists in the field of quality of life management) for:
– carrying out constant monitoring of the quality of life of citizens of the Russian Federation and providing, based on its results, proposals and recommendations to public authorities for making operational decisions;
– assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the activities of public authorities at all levels based on an analysis of the dynamics of quality of life indicators in specific territories;
– conducting information work (forums, exhibitions, scientific and practical conferences, round tables) on current problems of the quality of life of the population, with the goal of exchanging experience and developing specific measures and mechanisms for solving them;
– development of the basic federal concept for improving the quality of life in the medium and long term.
6. Strengthen the work of state regulatory bodies to preserve existing and create new jobs, encourage employers to fulfill social obligations to hired workers.
7. Constantly improve the quality of training of specialists carrying out the process of providing public services to the population.
8. Organize hotlines for issues that arise among the population (education, healthcare, housing and communal services, etc.), which are actually functioning, and not those that cannot be reached or the subscriber cannot be called or no one picks up the phone.
So, today public management has several priority areas, the main of which is improving the quality of life of the population. Significantly improving the quality of life is the most important socio-economic task on the agenda. To achieve this, the public administration system is being improved, primarily aimed at improving the information transparency of the activities of public authorities, expanding the scope of their interaction with the population within the framework of participatory relations, and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration.
