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Zakharov Ya.S.
Assessment of the effectiveness of state and municipal management in the field of cultural heritage management: theoretical, methodological and applied aspects
Keywords: state administration, cultural heritage sites, historical and cultural monuments, efficiency assessment, performance indicators, protection of cultural heritage, public administration, integral index, state control, public value
There are over 155 thousand cultural heritage sites of federal, regional and local significance recorded within the Russian Federation, making the country’s collection of monuments one of the largest in the world. At the same time, structural risks have emerged in the area of their protection and use: according to official data, 18% of properties are in a poor or dilapidated condition (of which 3,000 have effectively been lost); no single, scientifically sound methodology has been established for assessing the effectiveness of state and local government management in this area. The lack of such tools limits the possibilities of reasonable budget funds allocation, an objective assessment of the work performed by the protection authorities and formation of a long-term strategy to preserve an irreplaceable cultural resource.
The purpose of the study is to develop a theoretically sound and practically applicable system of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of state and municipal management of cultural heritage sites, as well as to develop recommendations for improving the mechanisms of such assessment, taking into account the specifics of the Russian institutional environment.
Materials and methods. The main sources used for this study were data from the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites (USRCH), legislation and regulations, as well as published academic works by Russian and international authors. The work uses general scientific (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, systemic and structural-functional approaches) and special (comparative legal, formal legal, statistical, expert analytical and case study methods) methods.
Results. Based on the integration of concepts of public value and good governance adapted to the specifics of managing irreplaceable cultural resources, the author developed a system comprising 24 indicators for assessing the performance of public authorities, structured into four analytical categories: integrity and technical condition of sites, public access to sites, financial and economic support and the quality of regulatory and law enforcement activities. A conceptual model for an integrated index of cultural heritage management effectiveness has been developed and tested using data from seven regions of the Russian Federation. The key systemic risks that hinder the improvement of the effectiveness of public administration in the field under study, including institutional gaps, personnel shortages and information asymmetry, are identified and systematized.
Conclusions. The developed system of indicators and the integral index of the effectiveness of cultural heritage sites management are an effective tool for a comprehensive assessment of the state and municipal management of cultural heritage sites. The results of the pilot testing confirmed a significant differentiation in the levels of management effectiveness in the subjects of the Russian Federation and revealed the systemic nature of management deficit in the area under study. Practical recommendations have been put forward to improve assessment mechanisms and enhance the effectiveness of management activities, including proposals to amend federal legislation, establish an integrated digital management platform, and develop mechanisms for attracting extra-budgetary investment. It should also be noted that the development of such tools forms the necessary methodological and scientific basis for further research in the field of public management of irreplaceable cultural resources.
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About authors
- Zakharov Yaroslav S.
- Post-Graduate Student, Department of State and Municipal Administration, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia, Moscow (zaxarov.99@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4331-7289)
Article link
Zakharov Ya.S. Assessment of the effectiveness of state and municipal management in the field of cultural heritage management: theoretical, methodological and applied aspects [Electronic resource] // Oeconomia et Jus. – 2026. – №2. P. 13-29. – URL: https://oecomia-et-jus.ru/en/single/2026/2/2/. DOI: 10.47026/2499-9636-2026-2-13-29.
