Public authorities as an object of modern historical and legal research

The purpose of the study is to analyze the views of theoretical scientists on the concept of public authorities and the place of local self-government bodies in the system of public authorities, based on well-established concepts, doctrines, and ideas developed in modern realities. To achieve the stated goals and objectives in scientific work, general scientific and specific scientific methods were used. The principles of objectivity and consistency, methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison made it possible to study the views of theoretical scientists, highlighting the argumentation that is significant for the research topic, based on facts, guided by the principles of reliability and impartiality, considering the topic in all its versatility and contradictoriness. The research is based on the theoretical works of Russian scientists studying various aspects of the multifaceted problem of public authorities as state institutions. The novelty of the research lies in the attempt to theoretically comprehend and scientifically analyze the concepts of public authority and public authorities based on the works of domestic authors, as well as to determine the positions of theoretical scientists in the place of local self-government bodies in the system of public authorities. The study made it possible to substantiate the rejection of the established stereotypes in the identification of the concepts of “public power” and “state power”, the reorientation of legal science towards the formation of the concept of state power as a variant of public power, the legal basis of which is the law. The paper also concludes the implementation of power relations through public authorities. At the same time, a lack of a unified approach to determining the place of local self-government bodies in the system of public authorities at present is indicated