Criteria for the Concepts of Local Self-Government and Governance

Abstract

Modern states’ constitutions are divided into three groups. The first group includes constitutions in which the existence of local self-government is explicitly recognized. The second group includes constitutions that establish only the general principles of local self-government, such as the Constitutional Act of Denmark, the Constitution of Finland, and the Constitution of Switzerland. The third group consists of constitutions that say nothing at all about local self-government, including the Constitution of Norway, the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and others.

When the issue of local self-government receives little attention in a constitution or is completely ignored, this means that the possibilities for constitutional control and limitation of state activity in the field of local self-government are reduced.