Introduction. The reform of local self-government is an established trend in the activities of the legislative body of the Russian Federation. There is a search for an optimal model of the organization of the system of public authorities at the settlement level. At the same time, the legislation on local self-government provides for institutions that can take on some of the responsibilities for solving issues of local importance. The article deals with the issues of the legal nature of territorial public self-government. The author focuses on the correlation of the concepts of “motivation” and “stimulation”. Results. In the public legal sphere, the state uses various ways to influence participants in public relations in order to encourage them to make positive decisions. To a large extent, these tools are imperative. For example, creation of municipalities throughout the country is imperative; the norm of the Federal Law “On General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” regarding the establishment of a system of mandatory local self-government bodies is imperative. However, the law also contains a significant number of dispositive norms. They are characterized by the absence of the obligation of the subjects of the right to perform certain socially significant actions. For example, the law provides for the possibility of establishing a territorial public self-government (TPSG). But residents of settlements have no obligation to create them, therefore, this provision of the law on the possibility of creating TPSG is dispositive, it orients citizens to the establishment of these associations, being, in fact, motivational. Conclusions. Motivational and stimulating components in the system of methods of state influence on public relations are clearly manifested in the establishment and activity of territorial public selfgovernment. The motivational component in influencing public law relations is not the subject of close attention of scientists, although normsgoals, norms-principles increasingly influence the development of priorities for social development, the formulation of relevant legal norms, having only motivation in their arsenal of influence.