The dissertation deals with the research of theoretical and methodological bases, tendencies and peculiarities of functioning of authorities under decentralization. The tasks of public administration science are specified, they are the development of the methodology for studying the process of public administration reform based on the concept of decentralization, which results in reforming the institutions of government at the national and regional levels, the interaction of decentralization and democratization through strengthening the role of civil society institutions. The author's research methodology of public administration transformation in the conditions of decentralization is substantiated. The dissertation proposes the author's concept of decentralization of power based on an integrative model of decentralization of state power in Ukraine, which should become the basis for structural transformation of the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine towards optimizing the number of administrative units and administrative staff. The basic concepts of the formation of civil society as a subject of decentralization of power are systematized. The thesis is substantiated that the basic theoretical and methodological problem of management is that management processes are inherent only in complex, dynamic systems, the immanent attribute of which is self-management, i.e. the ability to organize the system, bringing it into line with the objective laws of the environment to optimize its functioning. The study establishes the dialectical relationship between the impact of decentralization on the development of civil society in the context of modern research approaches, according to which two aspects are specified: the impact of decentralization on the formation of civil society, and the impact of civil society depending on its level of development of decentralization processes in the state. The genesis of the formation of civil society and its functional role within different government systems are analyzed. It is pointed out that there is a certain ambivalence in understanding the primacy of the impact of decentralization on the processes of formation of civil society.
It is established that decentralization will provide: firstly, the functional reorientation of the management system as a whole and at the level of individual structural components, which is carried out based on a holistic project, program-target documents; secondly, the structural restructuring of the management system by the new functional imperative, which means providing a new quality of management institutions according to the new, regulatory management functions; thirdly, the formation of a new socio-cultural environment of management based on values (norms) that form the basis of the strategy for modernization reforms. It is proved that value changes cannot occur spontaneously, neither within an individual nor within society as a whole due to the limited ability of human consciousness to integrate value innovations into an established system of guidelines and motives for behaviour. In this context, the role of integrative factors is actualized. It is proved that the decentralization of state power, through appropriate social and communicative processes, serves as a mobilization tool for the development of institutional structures of civil society.
The essence of modern tendencies of the formation of institutional bases in the context of decentralization of power in Ukraine is explained. The author's theoretical concept of the transformation process as the interaction of transformational factors in the system of public administration in Ukraine, determined by a set of tasks for public authorities, is developed and suggested.
