ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF ADMINISTERING PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS OF INTERACTION WITH THE PUBLIC

Abstract

The article analyzes technologies of public decision-making by local self-government bodies of Poltava region typical for approval of local budgets and reporting on the results of their implementation, management of communal property, protection of legitimate interests and rights of the territorial community, etc. Attention is focused on procedural issues of decision-making by local councils of Poltava region at their plenary meetings. Procedural issues of mandatory publication of draft public decisions by local self-government bodies are presented and thoroughly analyzed. The independence of local councils in choosing the method (order and format) of promulgation of public decisions is emphasized. The role of consultative and advisory bodies in promoting transparency (transparency, openness, etc.) of the work of local self-government bodies is illustrated. The analysis of the data of the diagram of the state of public involvement in the Dikan settlement territorial community of the Poltava region confirmed hypothetical guesses about the insufficient involvement of citizens in the life of the community. The normative-legal, financial-material and reputational risks of compliance of public decision-making by local self-government bodies with the requirements of transparency, taking into account the step-by-step process: from preparation of the draft decision to publication and dissemination of the public decision, have been allocated. The author’s flowchart of public decision-making by local councils with the assessment of 13 stages in relation to dangerous factors and the identification of 10 critical control points (CCP) of compliance with the principle of transparency are considered and analyzed in detail. Within the framework of the first stage “Comprehensive analysis and structuring of the problem situation”, 2 sub-stages were allocated and the first CCP was described. The reasons for false, ineffective and even harmful to society public decisions have been found out. A thorough analysis of CCP interaction with the public was made. The study of factors that are dangerous for transparency and the stage of registration and signing of a public decision made it possible to single out problem areas for leveling the impact of which on the quality of the adopted public decision formalized the algorithm of actions in case of a conflict of interest in the deputy of the local council. A matrix of fixing the issue of conflict of interest in the protocols of local councils has been developed in a tabular form, starting from the meanings of displaying a conflict of interest in logical advancement to the onset of criminal liability, since concealing a conflict of interest by a deputy of a local council can be qualified as a corruption crime. The authors concluded that after realizing the risks of making low-cost public decisions and isolating, followed by a thorough analysis of the CCP, will lead to minimizing the anti-transparent factors of public decision-making by local councils.