This paper opens a set of publications devoted to the development of institutions with mediator functions in contemporary Russia. Development of Public Chambers and of Consultative Councils on the federal and on the regional level (the cases of St. Petersburg and of Nizhegorodskaya region) is viewed in this article under a comparative aspect. The subjects of the research (which is being accomplished within the framework of the neo-corporative approach) are: the considered institutions’ normative grounds; their personal structure; the results of their activities. Finally, conclusions are made as to the considered institutions’ belonging either to the paternalistic, or to the partnership model of authority/society interaction.