CC BY
3DOI: 10.29141/2658-5081-2023-24-4-6 EDN: HJGRXB JEL classification: H70, I31, Q01
Elena B. Dvoryadkina Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia Elizaveta A. Belousova Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Ideas of well-being economy in the theories of local self-government
Abstract. Mostly center-periphery model of territorial development, long-standing domination of transfers in the structure of municipal budget revenues have formed the protracted, chronic nature of the socioeconomic problems. This necessitates refining goals, principles and content of municipal government, especially in the economic sphere. The paper aims to revise the propositions of the theories of local self-government against the backdrop of the emerging concept of well-being economy, which together constitute the methodological basis of the research. The study applies a suite of general scientific methods, including retrospective analysis and systematisation. Based on the review of pre-revolutionary works of Russian scientists and essayists for 1870-1917 devoted to zemstvo and town and city self-government, the paper deduces an image of well-being of a territory under local government. In particular, its well-being presupposes providing local internal and external amenities, care for food security, health, education, safety from various threats (fires, diseases, crime); organising the economic life of a territory through the municipalisation of socially important industries and services, generation of employment, as well as stimulation of economic activity through cooperation and issuing loans. Having compared the narratives of the well-being economy concept and the propositions of the theories of local self-government, the paper demonstrates that this concept can be implemented by means of local self-government, since their theoretical bases correspond to each other. The study concludes that there is a need to realise the potential of the local government system laid down by Alexander II, emperor of Russia. This requires making the interaction between residents and local government closer, disseminating knowledge about municipal government, and providing greater financial opportunities to local authorities so that they could concentrate on addressing local problems and expressing residents' interests.
Keywords: municipal economy; well-being economy; municipality; local self-government; zemstvo; cities and towns; City municipal statute.
For citation: Dvoryadkina E. B., Belousova E. A. (2023). Ideas of well-being economy in the theories of local self-government. Journal of New Economy, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 107-124. DOI: 10.29141/2658-5081-2023-24-4-6. EDN: HJGRXB.
Article info: received July 30, 2023; received in revised form September 10, 2023; accepted September 25, 2023
Introduction
The mainstream of discussion about the economic development currently centres around the promotion of well-being economy in the context of the sustainable development paradigm [Semenenko, Khaynatskaya, 2022, p. 76]. Otherwise stated, the evolution of the sustainable development concept has led to the theoretical formulation of well-being economy. The reasons for its emergence were succinctly stated by Finnish researchers Helne and Hirvilammi by saying: "Until now humankind has excelled at forgetting that all human activities are subordinate to the laws of thermodynamics and ecological processes, which in the end set the limits for social institutions (including economy) and for human well-being, that is, the balanced actualisation of needs" [Helne, Hirvilammi, 2019, p. 13]. The conclusion of the concept is as follows: the successful development of society is connected with the fact that, while increasing the standard of living and provision of goods (including meeting the needs for food, clean water, housing, education and healthcare) to the population, we must not exceed the ecological boundaries of the planet. The key difference of the ideas of sustainable development at the stage of forming the concept of well-being economy is, first and foremost, the idea of the severity of restrictions (planetary boundaries). Constant and never-ending improvements in the quality of life are impossible; modern economic development needs to understand which saturation point to reach and what production output the economic system has an opportunity to achieve. This restriction is supposed to modify the reproduction process in terms of its principles, measurement of its results and efficiency by changing the system of values and goals of economic development.
The well-being economy is a promising concept that allows customising and adjusting the reproduction process in territories of different levels - global, national, regional and local. Key characteristics of the well-being economy1 include fairness, which in all its dimensions lies at the heart of economic systems; participation - residents actively take part in the life of their communities; respect for nature - a person gives as much as he or she takes; purpose - everyone has a sense of belonging and institutions serve the common well-being; dignity - people are provided with enough to have comfort, security and happiness.
The majority of municipalities have limited resources to implement the principles of the well-being economy, yet their potential for this is rather high: they are more flexible territorial units, their resources are easier to assess and their well-being
1 Wellbeing Economy Alliance. https://weall.org/what-is-wellbeing-economy.
characteristics are easier to reveal. The purpose of the article is to hold a theoretical analysis of the relationship between the narratives of the well-being economy and the propositions of the theories of local (zemstvo, town (city)) self-government in pre-revolutionary Russia, which form the basis of modern municipal science. According to the research hypothesis, the progressive ideas of local self-government formulated in the pre-revolutionary period, have not yet been sufficiently implemented in the public administration in the territories, and can serve as the basis for implementing the well-being economy concept in local communities. To test the hypothesis, we used a historical approach, allowing us to perform analysis in a spatiotemporal aspect.
Ideas of local self-government in pre-revolutionary Russia
The processes of modernisation of Russian society during the second industrial revolution stimulated the development of municipal science, which is a branch of science researching various aspects of public administration at the level of individual communities living in specific territories in order to realise their interests and meet local needs. Between 1870, marked by the adoption of the City municipal statute during the reforms of zemstvo and town (city) self-government in the Russian Empire, and the early 1920s, the social scientific discourse was enriched with a great number of works on the organisation and objectives of local self-government. On the one hand, it had to transform the methods of public administration, ensuring more active residents' participation. On the other hand, it was meant to take care of the cultural needs and standards of living so that the whole society would correspond to the technological progress it had faced with.
Given the new challenges Russia has encountered in the 21st century, pre-revolu-tionary works are of particular interest. "The interruption of gradualism (evolution) in the constitutional development of Russia definitely has a negative impact on the development of statehood in modern times; and for this reason, the contemporary Russian model of local self-government has turned out to be far from the progressive ideas and practices of zemstvos," Chervonyuk notes [2018, p. 153]. Our paper focuses on studying the ideas about the well-being for the territories of local self-government (LSG) in the works of pre-revolutionary researchers, and therefore, considers this issue in the context of the essence, goals and objectives, as well as the LSG areas of responsibility during this period.
According to Kiesewetter, the development of local self-government system as a component of public administration should be traced back to the City municipal statute of Catherine II adopted in 1785. In practical terms, the Statute "did not direct the city life in a new way" and became a reform which was "left on paper"; however, it was "the first manifesto of such foundations of local self-government, which did not receive any practical implementation or theoretical recognition in previous periods
of the Russian history" [Kiesewetter, 1913, p. 251]. In particular, the historian emphasises that the city was proclaimed an all-class self-governing union, i.e., the entire city population was then involved in governance, and its activities consisted not only of collecting duties, but also in independently governing sectors of a city's welfare. Analysing the City municipal statute, Kiesewetter summarises the areas of responsibilities of Dumas (city councils) in 8 domains: "1) feeding and providing town (city) residents; 2) preventing arguments and litigation between the city and surrounding towns and villages; 3) keeping peace, silence and harmony in towns and cities; 4) maintaining public order; 5) providing towns and cities with essentials; 6) protecting city buildings, designing and constructing squares, piers, barns and shops necessary for towns and cities; 7) increasing a city's revenues and 8) resolving doubts and misunderstandings regarding crafts and guilds" [Ibid., p. 268]. He concludes that despite the competence outlined in the document, Dumas did not have much independence in carrying out activities in these areas, and obeyed the instructions of the provincial government and the governor in terms of both the fulfillment of duties and the income formation and distribution of the emerged local self-governments. In addition, the members of local self-government at the initial stages of its development (and even after the reforms of Alexander II) often executed minor orders of the provincial authorities and directly took part in some minor activities such as controlling trade in the market.
Vasilchikov warned against using the potential of self-government solely for reducing the central governments' expenses and 'concerns' associated with governing process: "But it goes without saying that a system, which imposes all the burdens of governance without corresponding rights on residents, does not deserve to be called "self-government". It acquires its significance only from the moment when residents gain real influence on the course of local affairs, or at least the area in which this influence is found..." [Vasilchikov, 1872, p. II]. Kiesewetter agrees to him, he stresses that the presence of local self-government is a sign of a conscious state, which understands that the government on its own cannot achieve the ideal of the state's well-being and people's contentment for two reasons: "1) due to the rapidly developing alienation of the ruling bureaucratic class from the lively, ever-moving and renewing interests and needs of the people1 and 2) due to the fact that free participation itself in governance affairs is a deep need of society and a necessary element of public satisfaction and contentment" [Kisewetter, 1917, p. 7]. Thus, it is possible to reveal an important element of the well-being economy - local communities themselves must determine their well-being stories, its characteristics for a specific territory. At the same time,
1 Gronskiy later wrote "This alienation of the masses from the educated classes is the worst of the ulcers instilled in people's body by the bureaucratic system of government; it separates the intelligentsia from the people and thereby weakens the creative spirit of nations" [Gronskiy, 1917, p. 26].
the system of local government, the range of its activities and areas of responsibility cannot be identified in any other way except "in direct relation to the people and the country in question" [Vasilchikov, 1872, p. 42].
To the main areas of responsibility of local governments Vasilchikov attributed the following [Vasilchikov, 1872, p. 49]: 1) planning transport routes, since they are directly dependent on special local conditions, such as soil properties, location of the population and the size of transport and travel, local prices; 2) public charity, since "the government and government agents who do not belong to the local population cannot get into the people's life so deeply as to determine the degree of need, decrepitude, illness that entitles people to social benefits," so charity for the poor can easily turn into feeding both 'parasites' and officials involved in the supervision of this activity [Vasilchikov, 1872, pp. 43-44]; 3) public food, since no strict reporting can save grain reserves from 'depletion and plunder' if local authorities do not take care of them; 4) public health is one of those issues that requires coordination between local and central authorities to control the epidemiological situation. However, local authorities must have the necessary powers to bring the situation under control promptly, without waiting for permission from the central authorities; 5) public primary education, including establishing and maintaining vocational schools, rural and urban comprehensive schools, normal colleges for training teachers; 6) public amenities, including public order maintenance, construction supervision, fire protection, protection of lands and property from damage, monitoring the navigation of inland rivers and lakes, protecting personal safety from careless (but not from deliberate, malicious) actions (storage and sale of weapons, gunpowder and keeping dogs); 7) prison administration; 8) the economic part, i.e., zemstvos' right to draw up budget and spend money on their areas of responsibility; 9) system of state taxes and duties; 10) magistrate court and jury trial.
Importantly, in the economic part Vasilchikov included only the determining what local needs require expenses, planning these expenses according to the norms for those items that are subject to taxation, as well as independent decision-making concerning expenses. Despite the fact that in the Statute on the provincial and district territorial institutions as of 1864, zemstvos were supposed to "take care of the trade and industry development," Vasilchikov believed that "trade and industrial affairs are hardly subject to the regulation or concern of local institutions", for the zemstvo authorities have neither an impartial view, nor the understanding of national interests: they themselves are involved in this trade and crafts, and they are also "closed in a narrow sphere of local interests," and "this narrowness of views, this isolation, the main vices of provincial life are especially detrimental to governing affairs such as trade and industry, which development depends on the free unhindered movement of goods, people and capital" [Vasilchikov, 1872, p. 51].
Odarchenko's opinion seems especially up-to-date when it comes to the importance of establishing zemstvos locally (for example, in rural districts), which will not only take care of the public charity, but also carry out economic activities, for example, provide small loans for the rural population: "Raising economic well-being is the goal towards which all efforts of zemstvos should be directed, and the only way to reduce the flow of peasants moving to towns and cities in search of earnings and happiness. The economic activity of zemstvos and public charity complement each other..." [Odarchenko, 1900, pp. 2-3]. His idea indicates that supporting the rural population is an important and necessary objective, and it should be achieved through the development of a territory, providing social and economic support to the population, which contrasts with administrative methods: keeping peasants legally bound to the land or not issuing passports to collective farmers in the USSR. He also notes that despite a number of destructive phenomena while electing members from peasants (for example, bribery or election by the order of an influential nobleman), there was also another phenomenon when a lot of zemstvo members from the upper class began to recognise the law of unconditional solidarity of large and small landowners, to realise that raising the economic well-being of peasants, in addition to its moral side, is not only beneficial, but also necessary for the general improvement of economic well-being, including the nobles themselves [Ibid., p. 96]. This understanding is consistent with the growing problem of income inequality both in Russian regions and in developed Western economies [Belousova, 2022, pp. 47-48], which negatively affects not only the general well-being, but also increases social tension at present.
Odarchenko attaches enormous importance to all residents' direct participation in governance. He sees a deep moral basis in such solidarity. It is, firstly, connected with helping one's neighbor, and secondly, with the fact that it does not allow society to be divided into 'wards and guardians', when social instincts fade away, and a resident of the country who does not take part in governance "oscillates between slavery and licentiousness" [Odarchenko, 1900, pp. 5, 14, 26]. Or, as Gronskiy put it, there is "atrophy of the subject-legal psyche in the sphere of public law among the mass of the population" [Gronskiy, 1917, p. 26], which also does not contribute to general well-being. In general, the essayist concludes that the correct organisation of zemstvo self-government must sooner or later fulfill its objective - "to raise the peasants' economic well-being, and thereby give them the opportunity to be true representatives of the interests of their environment, and in the future - to lead the society to further material and spiritual development" [Odarchenko, 1900, p. 95]. For example, he sees the development of the zemstvos' economic base in using the potential of consumer societies (they will allow organising trade in quality goods at a fair price), production associations (they can provide employment and income to the residents suffering from unemployment), as well as their unions (they will eliminate intermediaries
between producers and consumers, and the capital will remain in the zemstvos). The development of consumer communities and production associations can also be used to achieve not only utilitarian, but also educational purposes (craft and vocational training, public education in general), which will ultimately lead to the formation of so-called moral capital, as well as a further increase in material welfare of the residents [Ibid., pp. 143-156].
Zagryatskov analysed the economic content from ancient cities to modern ones [Zagryatskov, 1906, p. 5]. He notes that the ancient Greek cities - Thebes, Babylon and Rome - did not resemble modern ones at all due to their main functions - being the center of political life and security. Only medieval cities became a 'production cell'; and with the advent of modern age, "the framework expands, the colours become more varied, the contrasts become sharper, the prospects open wider... life functions become more intense" [Ibid., p. 8], - a 'world city' appeared, which is connected with global production, but at the same time lives an independent life, and its growth is striking. Such a city "is inevitably one-sided and therefore depends on the national and even world market, so that its economic life, the social forms of its production are determined by the general economic laws of a given society at a given historical moment" [Ibid., p. 32]. A similar dependence is relevant today, because large urban agglomerations suffer a crisis in a much more serious way, their decline rate in production is greater than in the economy in general, in other words, their well-being is very susceptible to the influence of external factors, which should be taken into account by the state, despite the necessary independence of towns and cities.
The scientist concludes that "the laws of development of a modern world city... are... the result of a peculiar relationship between the two most elementary and most fundamental factors of human culture - territory and population" [Ibid., p. 9] and, using the example of changes in land rent, demonstrates how advantageously located land, due to its shortage, acquires enormous economic importance, and the rent grows immensely. In this vein, Zagryatskov examined a number of topical issues related to creating a prosperous city life from an economic viewpoint. He proceeded from the need to limit freedom of property to ensure personal freedom. For example, he believed that the municipalisation of enterprises is preferable to the competition of private enterprises, in particular, in such important sectors of the urban economy as providing clean water in sufficient quantities, installing sewer systems (sanitation); good lighting (which "protects the life of the average person against crime better than any policeman") [Ibid., p. 34]; constructing and maintaining public means of transport (especially in the context of the problem of proper population distribution throughout the urban area, which cannot be solved while urban transport routes are private). Zagryatskov is confident that "municipalisation is a political and social necessity" due to the inevitability of government intervention in private and
legal relations [Ibid., p. 42]. In addition, the municipalisation of enterprises allows handling the issue of the weak revenues of local budgets, which is relevant both then and now. And if the maintenance of existing infrastructure (social, transport and housing) was affordable for local budgets, the construction of new one in most cases could only be done through loans from the state budget, and the central government was extremely reluctant to provide them, seeing the local government as its political rival.
Veselovskiy in his essay What kind of local self-government do the people need? draws attention not only to towns and cities and the needs of their external and internal amenities, but to the rural economy of villages, counties and provinces: "Every village always has such common interests and needs which are convenient for them to satisfy together" [Veselovskiy, 1906, p. 5]. The scientist outlines the ideal of local self-government in the following way. Firstly, since local affairs are those that concern only a specific locality, "the highest authority in the state should not interfere in purely local affairs (of villages, counties and cities); it should not violate the independence of local self-government" [Ibid., p. 8]. Secondly, the LSG activities should be limited only by law, express the needs and interests of the entire local population, and not fulfill "the wishes of landowners, merchants, homeowners and rich peasants" [Ibid., p. 14]. Accordingly, universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage is significant when electing members of zemstvos and city councils.
Lukomskiy and Posse, adherents of social democratic views, consider the well-being of local self-government territories from the standpoint of achieving the benefit of deprived social classes and in the context of public self-government as a whole. In particular, Posse emphasises the potential of local government in this case: "in the fight against state power, local self-government often protects the interests not of the ruling class, but of the entire population; especially since in many Western European cities' governments, the proletarians have already acquired such power that they can begin practical work in the direction of so-called 'municipal socialism'" [Posse, 1905, p. 522]. The author sees the ideal of local self-government in the example of England, where the principle of "the broadest municipalisation of private monopolies and their governance in the interests of society, and not for the purpose of receiving unfair profits" is implemented [Ibid., p. 523]. Thus, towns and cities are gradually displacing privately owned enterprises and municipalising "water and gas supply facilities, city railways, bazaars, cemeteries, bathhouses, laundries, etc. Having at their disposal those productive forces that have developed due to private enterprise, and surpassing it in unity of plan and amount of its own funds, town (city) self-government successfully dominates the entire area of satisfying public needs" [Ibid., pp. 523-524]. The good sense behind the municipalisation is that residents' demand for services underlying the organisation of joint urban life is quite stable, and the supply must be equally
stable and affordable so that a city or other municipality can exist safely, i.e., attract residents and businesses through creation of a favorable urban environment.
In the development of local self-government, Posse puts considerable hopes on the lower classes, who, having entered the governing bodies, "begin to take care of their local interests not only indirectly, through elections, but also through direct participation in governance" [Ibid., p. 525]. In addition, the author reminds that the purpose of the state is not to protect the property and personal freedom of individuals, but to, by uniting people, make it possible to achieve "such a stage of existence," "such a sum of education, power and freedom" that could not be achieved by them as individuals, and also "to lead the human beings to the point when they unfold positively and develop progressively, in other words, to attain a human purpose - i.e., culture" [Ibid., p. 494].
Lukomskiy considers the relationship between the city life and the position of a working person, believing that a city dweller must fight not only for decent working conditions and wages, but also for the right to govern, since "the exploitation and oppression of the working class extends far beyond the factory fence and penetrates into all areas of our social life" [Lukomskiy, 1902, p. 37], and "city life, the city duma, the city economy are one of the important aspects of this complex life of workers in their free time" [Ibid., p. 3]. He examines a number of the most pressing issues of urban governance as examples of the unfair and unequal position of different groups of citizens (homeowners and employers, industrialists and workers). Let us consider some of them in a more detail.
Firstly, the system of city fees (hospital, address and postal fees), which falls heavily on low-income population. For example, hospital fees are paid by unskilled workers and newcomers to the city (St. Petersburg), who are actually unemployed, but at the same time they are not collected from manufacturers and merchants [Ibid., p. 9].
Secondly, water supply and sewerage, as well as watering and cleaning of streets to protect from dust, which are critical for the sanitary-epidemiological situation and public health. Lukomskiy writes that "water pipelines and filters" are installed only for the rich population, the rest have to take water from the Neva river; meanwhile, "unfiltered Neva water was recognised by the Duma city commission in 1893 as unfit for drinking or cooking" [Ibid., p. 14].
Thirdly, public education, and fourthly, the housing issue. Reflections on the latter are especially relevant in the context of recent trends in construction: due to the high demand for housing in large urban agglomerations (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Ekaterinburg, etc.), multi-storey, compactly located complexes with small apartments (starting from 8 m2) are being actively constructed. Lukomskiy notes that "the mortality rate of those living in one room accommodation is incredibly high": the mortality rate of one-room residents is 23 times higher than those living in three
rooms accommodation [Lukomskiy, 1902, p. 15]. Certainly, homeowners benefit from "hives for housing as many people as possible", but overcrowding and lack of fresh air negatively affect the health and lives of city residents. Thus, since the city is "a community of people who have many common interests and common needs" [Ibid., p. 12], there must be equal representation in government so that the benefits created on the territory are available to all residents.
In the work published in the middle of the First World War, Vegner places great importance to local self-government as a local organising and mobilising force, although the main task assigned by the state to local self-government is "satisfying local economic and cultural needs" [Vegner, 1916, p. 4]. The scientist provides not only a detailed list of local self-government functions, but also describes how they should be implemented. For instance, economic activities include such areas as: the formation of cooperative craft societies and assistance to artisans; agronomic assistance; organisation of agricultural warehouses, experimental fields and stations; grass management (mowing, crushing, burning) and improvement of livestock husbandry; drainage of swamps; pest control; organisation of a meteorological network; credit institutions and cooperatives; city banks and pawnshops; food business and the fight against high prices; public works; public trade in bread, meat, coal and other essentials. Technological and social progress is reflected by him in such an important area of local self-government as sanitary improvement, in particular, in the arrangement of water supply in the city and countryside, the organisation of public baths and laundries, laboratory tests of water, sewers and landfills, disinfection chambers, vaccinations, morgues and crematoria, as well as animal products processing, recycling and albumin plants. Special attention is paid to insurance and fire protection (organisation of alarm systems, fire brigades and convoys, voluntary insurance, livestock insurance). New technologies are also present in functions related to roads and means of transport (so-called arrangement of transport routes by Vasilchikov) - Vegner wrote not only about roads, bridges, rivers and canals, but also about trams, telegraph and phone.
Already by 1917, the significance of local self-government, which appeared in the second half of the 19th century, seemed undeniable for the state. Firstly, "local authorities are the executors of the central authorities' plans," and secondly, the majority of the population comes into direct contact only with local authorities, whose image determines the attitude of residents to the state system [Gronskiy, 1917, p. 3]. At the same time, as the modern Russian historian Mamaev notes, the development of the self-government institution reflected larger-scale problems, for instance, "what is higher priority - the interests of local communities, individuals, society or the state as a whole, what is more important - decentralisation, stimulation of local initiative or strengthening of the rigid vertical, administrative and bureaucratic system?"
[Mamaev, 2018, p. 103]. Associate Professor of Petrograd University Gronskiy poses the problem of self-government precisely in the context of decentralisation. He examines several theories of local self-government (the theory of a free community, the organic theory of self-government, state theory, political theory, legal theory) and points out the difficulties in determining the responsibilities of local governments, methods of their formation, payment for work (as an honorary position, as an amateur position in free time or as one of the professions), legal status. Thus, the key issues of local self-government boundaries, according to Gronskiy, are related to the degree of independence from the central government in resolving problems, the ability of the population to choose their representatives, participation of local residents in self-government, and expression of the general interests of the territory. The ideally organised local government, which is able to fulfill its main goal - the rational satisfaction of "local benefits and needs" - avoids formalism, inactivity and alienation in its implementation [Gronskiy, 1917, p. 27].
The materials studied allow us to draw a number of conclusions. Firstly, in the works of pre-revolutionary scientists and essayists, one can trace the idea that the structure of local self-government is to be modernised when the circle of government concerns starts to include, in the words of Kiesewetter, "more complex issues of meeting and developing the highest needs of the population itself" [Kisewetter, 1917, p. 72].
Secondly, speaking about the LSG areas of responsibility in Russia, researchers come to the idea that if in Western economies (for example, the USA or Switzerland) their formation was influenced by the national character, showing greater independence (for example, the state formation went from communities to a higher level of unification for dealing with foreign policy issues that communities were unable to handle on their own), then in Russia the need for local self-government proceeds from the fact that only local authorities can know the most serious problems of the territory and the means to solve them due to the territorial diversity of the country. In addition, many agree that in none of the states (England, Prussia or France), the governance of local institutions was given such a freedom as in Russia [Vasilchikov, 1872, p. 52].
Thirdly, an important conclusion of the pre-revolutionary researchers is the recognition of the need for equal and active participation of the local population in public self-government, otherwise the productive satisfaction of local benefits and needs becomes impossible.
Relationship between LSG ideas and well-being economy
In this section, we give a brief description to the theoretical concept of well-being economy and further link it to the propositions of the theories of local self-government that were examined earlier.
With this end in view, it is important to mention several phenomena which pushed the development of well-being economy. Firstly, it is the criticism of GDP and the resulting creation of alternative progress indicators. According to a number economists, GDP is a largely misleading measure of economic well-being: for example, it often correlates poorly with changes in life satisfaction and happiness [Easterlin, 1995; Boarini, Johansson, d'Ercole, 2006, p. 6]; GDP does not always take into account leisure, inequality, mortality, morbidity, crime and the environment, which are just some of the factors influencing the standard of living within a country [Jones, Klenow, 2016, p. 2426]; GDP considers negative externalities as positive ones [Giannetti et al., 2015, p. 12], etc. Accordingly, alternative measures of economic well-being and prosperity are being developed in order to change the assessment vector, and therefore the goals of economic policy [see more details: Fleur-baey, 2009; Coscieme et al., 2020; Sánchez et al., 2020; Cook, DavíSsdóttir, 2021; Delahais et al. 2023]. Secondly, a post-growth economy abandons GDP growth as a goal, and instead it reorganises production around the society and planet's well-being rather than around consumption and accumulation [Jackson, 2009], with increasing support for post-materialist (self-expression values in counterbalance to materialistic survival values), collectivist and environmental values [Paulson, Büchs, 2022].
As interpreted by a group of international researchers [Fioramonti et al., 2022], the well-being economy involves creating an economic system that strives for human and environmental well-being instead of material growth. The authors highlight the applicability of this concept for developing post-growth policies and assessing socioeconomic progress. Although the well-being economy shares some of its core principles with various post-growth conceptualisations, its terminology and concepts tend to be more easily adapted to different social and economic contexts, penetrate political processes and consider cultural specifics, not only in advanced economies but also in less industrialised countries.
The authors of another work, which develops the ideas of the well-being economy, focus on the need to recognise the health - environment nexus as the core of planetary health and, thus, move - as part of the social transition to sustainability - from conventional cost-benefit analysis to recognising "co-benefits" between health and the environment and the economy [Laurent et al., 2022].
The work of Waddock [2021] examines the major concepts associated with the dissemination of the well-being economy. For this purpose, the texts of 183 applications for membership of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance were used, on their basis four narratives about the well-being economy were identified. Narratives seem to be the most appropriate form of describing the emerging well-being economy,
since, as Shiryaev, Kurysheva and Volchik note, "narratives are valuable primarily because through them we receive information about how actors build their behaviour using "proto-economic models contained in narratives" [Shiryaev, Kurysheva, Volchik, 2021, p. 83]. Waddock emphasises that the resulting narratives are not as simple and clear as neoliberal principles, but they reflect the complexity of the current reality and the emerging well-being economy [Waddock, 2021, p. 15]. The results of comparing these narratives with the analysis of pre-revolutionary works on zemstvo and town (city) self-government are presented in Figure.
As the ideas of LSG developed, one can see how it turned from a means of organising culture and everyday life of urban residents and liberated peasants into a genuine necessity, a commonplace for effective local government (true bodies of self-government). At the same time, the original message of local self-government - concern for the population's well-being - is not lost. When looking at scientific works, as well as legislative acts1 of the pre-revolutionary era from a linguistic point of view, especially where the areas of responsibility of the LSG are discussed, there will be found many words in the texts with a morpheme blago (in Russian meaning "well-" or "good"). A few examples can be:
- urban amenities (in Russian: blagoustroistvo), i.e., care for organising urban life, designing and maintaining streets, squares, pavements, sidewalks, city public gardens, boulevards, water pipes, sewers, canals, ponds, ditches and ducts, bridges, gates and crossings, and as well as the lighting of the city and town2;
- welfare (in Russian: blagosostoyanie) of the urban population, i.e., measures to ensure food supply for the people, the organisation of markets and bazaars; concerns for public health protection, for taking precautions against fires and other disasters and for ensuring against losses caused by them; concerns for the protection and development of local trade and industry, for the establishment of piers, exchanges and credit institutions3;
- decent behaviour (in Russian: blagochinie) i.e., public order, ensured by the security police, there is also a welfare police4;
- zemstvo's charitable (in Russian: blagotvoritelnyye) and medical institutions and other measures of charity; ways to stop begging; concerns for building churches; care and charity for the poor, incurable sick and insane, as well as the orphaned and disabled5;
1 This refers to Statutes on the provincial and district territorial institutions as of 1864 and 1980, as well as City municipal statutes as of 1870 and 1892. https://nnov.hse.ru/ba/law/igpr. (In Russ.)
2 City municipal statute as of 1870. (In Russ.)
3 Ibid.
4 Charter of Public order or Police charter as of 8th April, 1782. (In Russ.)
5 Statute on the provincial and district territorial institutions as of 1864 and 1980. (In Russ.)
Relationship between the narratives of well-being economy and the propositions of the zemstvo and town (city) self-government theories1
1 Source: Own compilation based on [Waddock, 2021; Dvoryadkina, Belousova, 2023], article materials.
- building Orthodox churches and maintaining them in good condition and splendor (in Russian: blagolepie), as well as providing institutions aimed at strengthening religious feelings and raising the morality of the urban population1.
In the texts, activities designed to ensure the good are called sectors of urban welfare, and the areas of responsibilities of zemstvo and town (city) public administration are called local economic benefits and needs. If to form a collective image of a territory's well-being of local self-government based on the works of pre-revolutionary scientists, we can conclude that it was supposed to take care of food security, public health, education, protection from various threats (fires, diseases and crime); providing external and internal amenities of a territory; maintain peace, silence and harmony; arrange, maintain and improve local transport; organise the economic life of a territory through the municipalisation of socially significant industries and services, employment of the unemployed, as well as stimulation of economic activity through the issuance of loans and cooperation.
Conclusion
A review of the pre-revolutionary works of Russian scientists and essayists made it possible to prove the connection between the well-being economy and local self-government, as well as to identify an image of well-being of a territory under local self-government. We agree with Chervonyuk [2018] that the ideas and practice of zemstvo and town (city) self-government were progressive. This was manifested both in the LSG organisation and in taking into account the technological factor. Based on the analysis of the theories of zemstvo and town (city) self-government through the prism of the well-being economy concept we are able to conclude that developed local self-government has the significant potential for the implementation of these ideas as well as it is a necessary condition for this, since it is the local self-government that knows local needs, which allows it to first develop, visualise and then implement a local 'well-being story'. In strategising and managing their development, municipalities should apply the principles of well-being economy, especially taking into account that research indicates the dependence of the socioeconomic development of territories on the quality of strategic planning and management [Antipin, Vlasova, 2022, p. 67]. Thus, the study confirmed the hypothesis that the progressive ideas of local self-government, formulated in the pre-revolutionary period, are not sufficiently implemented in public administration and creation of well-being in the territories, and can serve as the basis for the implementation of the well-being economy concept in local communities. The results obtained can be applied to adjust the goals, principles and content of municipal government.
1 City municipal statute as of 1892. (In Russ.)
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Information about the authors Elena B. Dvoryadkina, Dr. Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Prof. of Regional, Municipal Economics and Governance Dept. Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia. E-mail: dvoryadkina@usue.ru
Elizaveta A. Belousova, Cand. Sc. (Econ.), Associate Prof. of Regional, Municipal Economics and Governance Dept. Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia. E-mail: belousova-unir@usue.ru
© Dvoryadkina E. B., Belousova E. A., 2023
