Federalism and Local Politics in Russia

12 Vertical or triangle? Local, regionaland federal government in the RussianFederation after Law 131Adrian CampbellIntroductionThis chapter examines the thinking behind the Russian local governmentreform of 2003 (Law 131) in the context of the evolving relationship betweenthe three levels of authority in the Russian Federation. Law 131’s critics havetended to see the law as part of a straightforward policy of centralization,aimed at integrating local government into the ‘state vertical’. This chapterargues that the motives behind the reform were more complex and maygenuinely have included the aim of creating a stable triangular distribution ofpower between federal, regional and local institutions.In addition to published sources, the chapter draws on the author’s participantobservation of the work of the Federal Commission for the Divisionof Powers between Levels of Government in the Russian Federation (KozakCommission), at intervals over the period 2002–4, including attendance atsessions of the commission, participation in seminars and conferences relatedto the Commission’s work, and discussions with members of the Commissionand its working group on local self-government.The chapter briefly reviews the role of the Law 131 in the work of theKozak Commission and then considers the wider theoretical aspects of thereform, before considering whether the reform represented a genuine opportunityto establish a triangular balance of power between federal, regionaland local levels, and why this opportunity was not fully exploited.Law 131 and its criticsSince its appearance of its first draft, in October 2002, through its adoptionby the State Duma in October 2003, and its coming into force in January2006 (and frequent amendments), the Law ‘On the General Principles ofLocal Self Government in the Russian Federation’ (Law 131) 1 has been thefocus of sustained debate and controversy, to a degree matched by few otherlaws initiated by the Putin administration.The law was seen by some as bringing local government into the structureof the state, in contravention of Article 12 of the Constitution, through