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Национальные проекты как инструмент реализации государственных стратегий развития
The subject. The article examines the legal nature and management potential of national projects in the Russian Federation as a key instrument of strategic planning, public administration, and control. Despite twenty years of implementation, the legal definition of national projects remains incomplete, and their role as a nationwide (popular) mechanism for achieving development goals requires deeper doctrinal analysis.
Purpose of the study. The study aims to reveal the essence of national projects, to determine their place in the system of strategic planning documents, to substantiate their function as both a management and a control tool, and to propose amendments to the legal definition enshrined in the Federal Law “On Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation”.
Methodology. The research is based on formal legal interpretation, comparative analysis, systemic and structural methods. The authors analyse Russian strategic planning legislation, presidential decrees, government regulations, the Accounts Chamber’s auditing standards, and INTOSAI documents. Theoretical foundations include works by Russian scholars on planning, public administration, and state control.
The main results. The authors reveal that the essence of a national project is “nationwide”, implying not only measurable material outcomes but also changes in citizens’ value attitudes, behaviour, and will. National projects overcome the sectoral limitations of traditional state programmes by enabling cross-programme interaction to achieve seven national development goals. It is demonstrated that national projects serve simultaneously as a project management tool (result‑based budgeting), an internal control mechanism (strategic monitoring by planning subjects), and an external audit object (strategic audit by the Accounts Chamber and regional control bodies). The study proposes supplementing the legal definition of a national project with the attribute of “nationwide (popular) character”. A distinction is drawn between strategic control and strategic audit, and the problem of evaluating the correctness of strategic goal-setting (which borders on political discretion) is addressed.
Conclusions. National projects should be understood as nationwide public projects. Their legal definition must reflect their unifying essence. They are not merely strategic planning documents but also a universal mechanism integrating planning, management and control. Effective implementation requires further development of strategic audit and a clear delineation of control over goal-setting from control over execution. Legislatively embedding the proposed attribute will improve the precision of the national project concept and distinguish it from federal projects and state programmes.