Keywords: local self-government traditions, foreign models, Zemstvo, Soviet model, two-level model

The article deals with the problem of formation of local government, which research shows Russia has a rich own history of the local power construction. An undertaken analysis of the Russian and foreign experiences must be in great demand in the modern Russian conditions for correcting of existed models of local self-government with responsiveness of historical, national-ethnic and other local traditions and peculiarities. All of this allows to prevent faults and errors, and to prognosticate the issues of local government.