A new better future? : A qualitative study of the governmental system in the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia.

Abstract: Municipal government is responsible for public safety, maintenance of city streets and parks, wastewater treatment, trash removal, fire and rescue services, public transportation, and other essential services which mean that it plays a big role in the life of the city and its citizens. The efficiency of the work of the municipality largely depends on the work of its top management. Most common forms of the head of a municipality in Russia is a mayor or a city manager. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze municipal officials’ views on a proposed change from a system with a mayor to a city manager system in the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia. In order to understand this, I look at the history of the country and interviews, study the theoretical material as well as the media. The thesis is qualitative and aimed to find out what the new system of city manager mean in practice and see the benefits and downsides of the new system according to those who are involved in the local government. In the case study I interview civil servants and councilors. The theoretical framework is based on the theories of Weber, Simon, Du Gay, Christensen & Lægreid, Pierre & Rothstein and others. The result shows that both civil servants and councilors see the possibilities of more efficient work of the municipal government if one has the city manager system of governance. They see the city manager to be a professional manager who would be out of politics and not dependent on the opinion of certain group of people. At the same time, I can point out that the ideas of New Public Management help the public sector to be productive. NPM-ideas are often argued to enhance efficiency, but they are not fully compatible with the Russian context. Due to the history and realities in Russia, I have come to a conclusion that the city manager system has weak points such as the lack of professional managers and the power vertical built in Russia, whose representatives mostly belong to one political party.