The article examines the legal basis for the organization of local self-government in two federal states — Russia and Argentina. It has been established that these countries have different approaches to the issue of distribution of powers between the federal center and regions in terms of regulating the activities of municipal authorities. This is largely due to the historical features of the development of federalism in Russia and Argentina. A distinctive feature of the Argentine approach is also that some municipalities may independently determine their own municipal regime within constitutionally established limits.