Main Directions of Development of Local Self-Government in Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify current problems and issues related to the formation and development of local self-governance in Ukraine, as well as to analyze the concept of local self-government and its features. The article uses a set of scientific methods, namely: terminological, system-structural, formal-logical, comparative-legal. The theoretical basis of the study are the works of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, the Constitution of Ukraine and the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The scientific novelty of the article is that it highlights a comprehensive study on the development of local government in the light of its modernization and integration, taking into account the latest international trends in municipal governance and domestic social transformations. The paper also proposes some solutions for building efficient and effective local self-government in Ukraine. According to the results of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) based on the experience of other West European countries, the issue of implementing economic, social and political reforms in Ukraine should be considered in the light of European integration; 2) effective implementation of this course requires the following coordinated measures from the authorities at all levels: implementation of major institutional changes; reforming the principles and methods of work, including training, retraining and the professional development of personnel; providing financial and economic opportunities for stimulating the development of local self-government; 3) the defectiveness of legal instruments and lack of a clear financial mechanism for implementing local self-government reform (the latter is formal, imitative nature), corruption in state authorities and local self-government bodies, no strategic vision of the country’s development – all of these delay the modernization of local self-government in Ukraine. Keywords: local self-government; decentralization; autonomy; territorial communities; democracy; competences.