The article discusses issues related to the use of strategic planning in public administration practice. A brief review of theoretical approaches and historical experience in this area both abroad and in Russia is made. An analysis of the current situation with strategic planning in Russia is given. It is shown that in the framework of domestic economic policy in the post-Soviet period, the role of strategic planning was underestimated, and that the revival of interest in it occurred relatively recently. The key advantages and disadvantages of the modern Russian strategic planning system are analyzed. In particular, the inconsistency of many strategic planning documents on goals, objectives, priorities, targets, development deadlines, etc. was revealed. Serious inconsistencies in methodological approaches to the development of various strategic planning documents, the absence of some of the most important strategic documents in some cases and their redundancy in other cases were also identified. In the final part of the article, detailed proposals are formulated and justified for improving the strategic planning system in Russia.