Olga Olisova, from Svobodnoe mnenie, a research group in Samara, has written a NIBR working paper – “The Role of Public Consultative Bodies in Policy-Making in the Social Sphere in the Samara Region”.
The working paper was commissioned in order to obtain more general information on the functioning of Russian consultative bodies at the regional level. Two consultative bodies with a rather general approach to problem-solving in the social sphere were selected for a closer investigation. The working paper illustrates barriers and success criteria for the functioning of two such bodies during different stages of the policy cycle. Though based on a limited number of cases, it still provides important insights into relations between state institutions and civil society in contemporary Russia.