FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL FOUNDATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT FLOW IN GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES OF THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC IN 1994–2010

The article is devoted to the problem of forming the legislative and regulatory support for electronic document flow functioning in the government authorities of the Chuvash Republic in 1994–2010, which is formulated for the first time in Russian historiography. The purpose of the work is to comprehensively study the process of legal foundations development for electronic document flow in government authorities of the Chuvash Republic during their reorganization in new historical conditions. On the basis of legislative acts, regulatory and methodological documents with the involvement of general scientific and disciplinary methods, the article clarifies the evolution in the legal content of the basic concepts “document”, “electronic document”, “electronic document flow”, the development of regional legislative and regulatory framework on the issue under study, introduction of electronic document flow in the exchange of information and documents between departments. The formation and development of legal foundations for electronic document flow in the government authorities of the Chuvash Republic in 1994–2010 contributed to improving the efficiency of public authorities’ activities and creating necessary conditions to ensure citizens’ access to information about the activities of state bodies, making the procedure for making public decisions transparent to the society and increasing the officials’ social responsibility for decisions made. The results obtained show that the system of legislative and statutory regulation, including its federal and regional levels, largely determined the directions for the development of electronic document flow in government authorities of the Chuvash Republic.