Towards More Meaningful Local Autonomy (original) (raw)
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Is Autonomy of Local Government a Clichè?
2021
Title: Is Autonomy of Local Government a Cliché? Purpose: The aim of this research study was to get a true picture of the autonomous level of Maltese local councils. The Local Councils Act was modelled on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. This means that Local Government units shall have a distinct legal personality apart from excercising and performing its functions under the Local Councils Act. Design: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a number of Mayors, Councillors, Executive Secretaries and other staff working at the local councils’ offices. The main aim of the interviews was to discuss the autonomy issue, stressing on decentralisation, the added value of local councils and if fiscal autonomy is viable for the local government units in Malta. Throughout the interviews, the participants had the chance to voice their opinion on the autonomy of local councils in Malta, what shall be done in the future, and if the notion of decentralisation is yielding the expected results. Findings: The findings indicate that local councils in Malta are still a long way from being truly autonomous. A good number of participants voiced their concerns that local councils are acting as Government customer’s care offices. Several participants stated that the establishment of several government agencies and entities is reducing the autonomy of local councils. Conclusions: While it is quite clear that the country needs local councils, it is similarly clear that they are not being autonomous as they should be. The local councils need the proper tools to succeed, but to date, the elected members and staff working at the local governments’ offices are frustrated by the lack of funds and lack of autonomy. Value: A number of recommendations are proposed on how local councils can be more autonomous in the future. Firstly, the Central Government shall decentralise more responsiblities to local councils, thus giving them the true sense of ‘local government’ units. Secondly, local councils shall be given more fiscal responsiblity. The last recommendation is a big shout for the political parties, since local councils can be better off if they are apolitical. Keywords: Local councils, Local Government units, Decentralisation, Autonomy, Added-value.
2021
This entry has been realised in the framework of the H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018 project "LoGov - Local Government and the Changing Urban-Rural Interplay". LoGov aims to provide solutions for local governments that address the fundamental challenges resulting from urbanisation. To address this complex issue, 18 partners from 17 countries and six continents share their expertise and knowledge in the realms of public law, political science, and public administration. LoGov identifies, evaluates, compares, and shares innovative practices that cope with the impact of changing urban-rural relations in five major local government areas: (1) local responsibilities and public services, (2) local financial arrangements, (3) structure of local government, (4) intergovernmental relations of local governments, and (5) people's participation in local decision-making. The present entry addresses local responsibilities and public services in Ethiopia. The entry forms part of the LoGov Repor...
Regional Autonomy : Sytematic Literature Review
POLICY, LAW, NOTARY AND REGULATORY ISSUES (POLRI), 2022
Regional autonomy refers to the authority that regulates the community's interests or acts as a regulator in areas where the federal government empowers local governments to manage their own government. This research technique utilizes five book sources in order to learn about regional autonomy, its various forms, and legal foundations. Community engagement in governance, particularly at the village level, is one of the foundations of regional autonomy that requires attention in this regard. Concerning the village government system's role in development implementation, many village development initiatives have been conceived and determined primarily on considerations and techniques from above, without involving the community being developed.
DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL AUTONOMY -LOCAL PUBLIC MANAGEMENT DEFINING PRINCIPLES
In the context of multiplication and diversification of the requirements and social needs, public administration, together with its authorities needs to operate through its entire activity to meet and resolve, under the best conditions, the public requirements and issues. Only by implementing the principles and the rules governing this matter and under the conditions in which the government deals with public affairs in an immediate and operational manner, efficiency will be ensured in meeting all interests, be they central or local. Constitutional principles, decentralization and local autonomy govern and underlie the formation, organization and functioning of local government, ensuring the interests and meet local needs, in concordance with the specifics of each administrative-territorial unit. Recognizing the legal personality of the administrative-territorial units and their right to self administrate in order to satisfy their own needs, the principle of decentralization and local autonomy gives the local government the mission to identify and to implement the optimal solutions for solving specific local administrative problems, and on behalf of the local interests which they represent. On the background of those exposed in the paper, analyzing the principles of decentralization and local autonomy, we can say that the exercise of this latter principle is possible only in the presence of the former, the basis for decentralization being the idea of local autonomy.
Limits of Autonomy of Local Governments
Sixth International Mediterranean Social Sciences Congress, 2019
The history of local governments in the Geography of Anatolia dates back to Tanzimat Period. In 1854, first local administrative unit has emerged with the establishment of “Istanbul Şehremaneti” which is first municipality, these units have developed until today. Article 127 of the 1982 constitution regulates local governments. According to the constitution, local administrations are public corporate bodies established to meet the common local needs of the inhabitants of provinces, municipal districts and villages, whose principles of constitution and decision- making organs elected by the electorate are determined by law. There has been centralist understanding in the state administration from Tanzimat period which local administrations has emerged to today. Such centralist understanding determines the limits of autonomy of local governments. The concept of autonomy which is defined as the right of self- government of a community, of an establishment under a separate law, “Muhtariyet” - autonomy by TLI (Turkish Language Institution) can be attributed to many different meanings. In this study after making various determination about autonomy, limits of autonomy of local governments will be discussed within the framework of 1982 Constitution. Keywords: Local Government, Local Autonomy, Autonomy of Local Governments.
The Anatomy and Drivers of Local Autonomy in a European Perspective
Starke Kommunen – wirksame Verwaltung, 2017
Making democracy work is a continuous struggle (Putnam 1993). Th is also goes for local democracy (Wollmann 1999), including the maintenance of the autonomy of local government, which is the basis for local democracy. 1 Th e autonomy of local government varies across countries but there is little understanding of why systems of local government develop in such diff erent ways. Th e purpose of this article is to contribute to such an understanding. Th e variation in local autonomy as well as the lack of explanations for it is remarkable since local autonomy is a cherished ideal for local government in liberal-democratic societies. Indeed, local autonomy is one of the constituent features of local government, perhaps the most fundamental feature. Local government is of course established by the state and serves the state both literally and in a wider sense. Yet, without some measure of autonomy from the state local democracy is meaningless-there will be no policy space for decision-makers and no choice for citizens. Arguably, local autonomy is also a driver of effi ciency in local government aff airs through the adaptive opportunities to local circumstances made possible by autonomous decision-makers accountable to local citizens as tax payers and consumers. 1 Th is chapter builds on and extends ideas presented in Ladner et al. (2016) and Lidström and Baldersheim (2016).
Local Government Autonomy and Development of Local Areas
2021
The areas in question in this discussion are those of each LG which are therefore to be found in both the urban and rural sectors, but predominantly in the latter. The issue of interest to this review here is an overview of how LG autonomy has impacted on the development of the locality, in particular the rural localities. Quite some work has been done on the development of the rural areas by the Nigerian LGs. The critical aspects in the local or rural development issue include availability of network of earth or tarred roads, electricity supply, pipe borne water, schools, health centres or cottage hospitals, mass transit system, telecommunication, political development, etc. The literature on LGs’ efforts to develop the local areas in Nigeria shows that the respective LGs have been showing varying concerns of development efforts to make positive impact on the lives of the local people. The efforts may have been rather low, but all over the country, LGs have tried in varying degrees...