Abstract: The experience of the state policy of foreign states in the field of development of municipalities based on the study of the state of development of local self-government, as well as the possibility of applying this experience in the Russian Federation is analyzed; problems of the development of the Russian Federation in the field of local self-government; legislative regulation of the state policy of Russia in the field of local self-government, as well as measures to increase the efficiency of municipalities.
For investigation, a list of nationwide scientific methods was used: analogy, generalization, induction based on the study of the works of various authors using foreign and domestic regulatory legal acts.
The theoretical aspect of this article allows us to systematize various approaches of state policy in the field of development of local self-government, as well as to increase the effectiveness of municipalities. The analyzed international experience can help to optimize the activities of local authorities in the Russian Federation.
The scientific novelty consists in the study of modern trends observed in the territorial organization of local self-government in Russia, as well as international trends in the development of municipalities. The inefficiency of the state policy of the Russian Federation on the consolidation of municipalities through the unification of settlements into urban districts and municipal districts was revealed, due to the planned decrease in financial costs for the maintenance of the above-mentioned local authorities and increased efficiency by sending freed funds to other more significant purposes, which resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of municipalities in Russia. There is a problem of the lack of official calculations of the economic efficiency of these trends in Russia, which does not allow building a trend analysis, as well as assessing the rationality of the measures taken.
Keywords: international experience, institutions of municipal government, municipality, local government, efficiency, economic development