Introduction. Local self-government, as the link between citizens and state authorities, has been in the focus of the research exploring the distribution of power and the decision-making process at the local level. Aims. To identify the features and dynamics of inter-elite relationships based on the study of one of the typical agrarian municipal districts in the Perm Region. The following methods were used: structural approach, method of nonformalized (in-depth) interviews, positional, decisional and reputational methods. Results. During the sociometric analysis, various types of inter-elite relationships (mutually beneficial cooperation, patron-client, conflict) were identified, as well as their specific features and key trends. Conclusion. The selected municipal district is a traditional agrarian territory and is characterized by a low level of socio-economic development, the disunity of the elites and the absence of large groups of influence. The political process actors actions in the last three years led to an escalation of moderate conflicts within the local elite, placing the territory on the verge of a local political crisis.

Introduction: the article is devoted to institutionalization of the religious component in Russian education; the main stages that determine the specificity of its manifestation are outlined. Objectives: identifying the stages and features of political and legal institutionalization of the religious component in modern Russian education. Methods: analysis of public authorities documents, secondary data analysis. Results: four stages in the institutionalization process have been highlighted: preliminary stage, characterized by a wide public discourse on the necessity and legitimacy of including a religious component in education; the stage of formalization and testing the norms; the stage of final integration of religious component into education; stage of discussing the new Federal State Educational Standard and the secularization of modules. The features of institutionalization process have been revealed. Conclusions: attempts have been made to find a middle ground between the secularity of education and the spiritual and moral education of students by teaching the course on “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics”. However, there is reason to believe that formal requirements are not fully met or are tacitly ignored locally, which creates new challenges for legislative regulation and a field for further research.