Challenges, Lessons, and Perspectives of the Administrative Reform in Russia

The experience of many countries demonstrates that the success of governance and public administration reforms is crucial to long-term economic development and poverty reduction, enhancement of citizens’ well-being, ensuring the state’s sovereignty, and the effective resolution of “old” and new problems (Farazmand, 1999). The COVID-19 pandemic crisis catalysed and accelerated trends that may not have been visible before. However, as available evidence demonstrates, history does not, after all, end, so the progressive development of nations and the rate of their advancement also depend on individual states’ innovative potential and ability to carry out successful governance reforms. Many countries, including Russia, face new pressures requiring fundamental systemic adaptation. A concern for efficiency is being supplanted by problems of governance, strategy, risk management, adaptivity, collaborative action, and the need to understand the impact of policies on society. “The roles and functions of the state in contemporary societies, cultures, and economies have expanded to respond to numerous present-day challenges, including that of coping with fiscal stress, economic recession, and instability” (Kotchegura & Jones, 2011, p. 15).