The article is devoted to topical issues of determining the effectiveness of the work of governmental agencies in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the study’s subject matter is determined by the lack of comprehensive examination of the subject matter from the perspective of methodology and practice. Public authorities’ activities in the Russian Federation are changing acquiring new qualities. Thus, clear and uniform criteria for their assessment are necessary. Evaluation criteria should be closer to social indicators and should meet the demands of society. The author analyzes the normative-legal regulation of this issue. to this end, the paper provides examination of the Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation that have been issued since 2007 to establishing indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the activities of the executive authorities of the Russian Federation. It is possible to observe a constant change in the methodological approach to the number, formulation and content of the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Between 2007 and 2012, the evaluation criteria were based on public control over the public services effectiveness exercised by citizens. Currently, the approach has changed — public control has been removed from the system under consideration and is now governed by a separate regulatory act. For the first time, to recognize executive authorities’ activities as effective the determination of the level of evaluation criteria to be met by executive authorities is used.The normative regulation of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the executive power at the federal level is also investigated. At the national level there is no any regulatory framework for assessing the activities of federal executive authorities of the Russian Federation. The author draws conclusions about the lack of a uniform approach to the evaluation of governmental authorities’ activities at both federal and regional levels. The conclusions can be used in law-making activities of state bodies.