This scientific article examines local self-government in closed administrative-territorial entities (hereinafter referred to as ZATOs) as a unique political and legal phenomenon in the public authority system of the Russian Federation.
The author advances and substantiates the thesis that local self-government in ZATOs is a unique political and legal phenomenon, a system of political and legal relations, interrelations, and elements, the uniqueness of which is due, in particular, to the fact that ZATO local governments are the only organizational and legal form of municipal authority functioning in a closed territory.
Using dialectical methods of scientific inquiry in studying this political and legal phenomenon, the author of this scientific article concludes that the public legal status of ZATO municipal governments is determined by the legislatively established special legal status of ZATOs as closed municipal entities, which ensure the safe functioning of organizations and facilities of national importance located within their territory. Furthermore, the author's study of the structure of this political and legal phenomenon, in particular its political and legal components, is of scholarly interest. Their integrity and dialectical unity are embodied in the daily activities of local government bodies in closed administrative-territorial entities (ZATOs), which serve as the institutional foundation of this political and legal phenomenon and, along with a set of public legal procedures and mechanisms, also comprise its structure.