Local Representative Bodies Research Articles

THE ROLE OF LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE AND EXECUTIVE BODIES IN UZBEKISTAN'S POLITICAL SYSTEM: LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS

This article explores the evolving role of local representative and executive bodies in Uzbekistan’s political system, with a particular focus on the increased participation of political parties in local governance. It examines the expansion of the powers of the Councils of People's Deputies, especially in relation to monitoring local executive authorities and ensuring the implementation of laws and governmental decrees. The study highlights the need for enhanced parliamentary oversight at the local level and discusses the potential impact of party groups in strengthening the socio-political framework of the regions. The article also addresses the challenges faced by local authorities in ensuring efficient governance, including insufficient use of the powers granted to political parties and the lack of a unified approach to solving socio-economic problems. Drawing on recent reforms, including experimental governance models in Tashkent, the article argues for a more robust legal framework to support local political oversight and promote greater accountability among local executive bodies. The findings underscore the importance of legal reforms aimed at enhancing the autonomy and effectiveness of local governance as a key component of Uzbekistan’s broader political and administrative modernization efforts.

YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTIVITIES OF LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE BODIES. STATUS AND PROSPECTS (1991-2023)

This article explores the status and prospects of youth participation in the activities of local representative bodies in Uzbekistan from 1991 to 2023. The study examines the historical context, current challenges, and future opportunities for youth engagement in local governance. It analyzes the impact of government policies, societal norms, and economic factors on youth involvement in decision-making processes at the local level. The article also offers recommendations for enhancing youth participation and strengthening democratic governance in Uzbekistan.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES: HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

The author notes in his research that from 1993 to 1995 a new system of local government was formed, local executive and representative bodies were allocated. With regard to the formation and activities of local executive bodies, the head of state played a key role, the system was based on vertical subordination. At the same time, local representative bodies have gained some independence. In the article, the author examines the history of the formation and development of the institution of local authorities, the development of relations between the head of state and territorial authorities. The subject of the study is the legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the legal norms formulated in them and the practice of their implementation, program documents. The objectives of the work are to identify problems in the system of relations between the President and local authorities. In the course of the study, the author examines the processes of centralization and decentralization. Thus, within the framework of the constitutional reform of the development of local authorities and self-government, the introduction of direct elections of the leadership of administrative-territorial units of some types, the system of vertical power and subordination is maintained. Moreover, the article shows some inconsistency in the ongoing reforms of local government, leveling the increase in the status of local authorities at the expense of other norms and rules. The paper shows that after the constitutional reform of 2022, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan retains full authority over local governments (taking into account the presence of some elements of independence of territorial governments). The article and in conclusion assesses some provisions of the legal acts of Kazakhstan.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article is devoted to the evolution of the electoral system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The authors on the basis of the analysis of the normative-legal base of the electoral system show its evolutionary way as a political instrument capable to promote both democratic development of society and its stagnation and degradation. A new turn in the development of the electoral system of Kazakhstan was conditioned by the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 30 August 1995. From that time on, fundamentally new pages of the electoral system of Kazakhstan began, which chose the path of a presidential republic with a bicameral Parliament and a developed system of local representative bodies - maslikhats. Constitutional reforms from 1998 to 2017 had a significant impact on the evolution of electoral legislation of Kazakhstan in the post-Soviet period, expressed in the fact that a number of its provisions were more politically motivated than dictated by the need for further democratisation of public life and compliance with legal logic. Therefore, in order to eliminate these shortcomings of the electoral system, amendments and additions were made to the legislation provided for by the Constitutional «On amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan» Act № 156-VII Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 5 November 2022. It introduced 174 amendments and additions, including 34 new articles, to the Constitutional Law on Elections of 28 September 1995. They concerned all aspects of electoral law and the practice of its application. The article is set out in a problem-chronological plan, similar or closely related events that took place in different periods of the evolution of electoral legislation, in violation of chronology, but in accordance with their logic, are set out in one place.

The legitimacy of sub-municipal councils in small and mid-sized cities under post-socialist conditions

Sub-municipal spatial community-based bodies, represented in the form of councils, have important roles in urban governance in many countries. This paper attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the legitimacy of sub-municipal councils (SMCs) in the specific conditions of small and mid-sized cities, within the context of democratising post-socialist society and decentralising government. Using the questionnaire and additional local resources, we discuss a selected set of relevant components of the legitimacy of SMCs, such as the traditions of their existence, legal and democratic grounds, autonomy, personal qualities, expertise, procedural issues, results and stability. We document these issues pertaining to the case of SMCs in small and medium-sized cities in Slovakia, emphasising the need for more components of legitimacy for their stable existence, with the strong impact of local traditions, legal framework development and incorporation into local representative democracy bodies.

War, Revolution, and the Expansion of Women’s Political Representation

Women’s political rights and their exercise of political citizenship globally have often expanded more rapidly in times of conflict, crisis, and revolution. The decline of empires after World Wars I and II and the creation of new nations served as a catalyst for the expansion of women’s suffrage. Civil wars and revolutions have had similar outcomes in expanding women’s political citizenship. This essay brings together several disparate literatures on World War I, World War II, wars of independence, revolution, and post-1990 civil wars and expands their scope to show how women’s political rights and citizenship in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have often been linked to conflict. In doing so, I highlight a notable pathway by which rights expansions occurred: conflict led to changes in the political elite and ruling class, resulting in the necessity to rewrite constitutions and other rules of the polity. During these critical junctures, women’s rights activists gained opportunities to advance their demands. The context of changing international gender norms also influenced these moments. I consider two key moments in the worldwide expansion of political citizenship: the struggle for women’s suffrage and the struggle to expand women’s representation in local and national representative bodies.

ПРАВОВЫЕ ОСНОВЫ РЕФОРМЫ МЕСТНОГО САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ В АРМЕНИИ

The article analyses the legal methods used by the Republic of Armenia to develop local representative bodies. The author believes that Armenia’s experience is of particular interest primarily because, immediately after independence in 1991, the republic, unlike many other post-Soviet states, chose the Western vector of development, including at the legislative level. Accordingly, all subsequent reforms were carried out with assistance, including financial one, and under the strict and continuous supervision of numerous international institutions. The paper chronologically describes the evolution and development of local government, starting with the widespread, sometimes excessively hasty, dismantling of the old Soviet state and administrative framework. It outlines the difficulties of introducing new forms of government and administration at all levels. The article considers in detail the successful and unsuccessful attempts at reform in that direction, and analyses the reasons for the failures. The forms of Armenia’s interaction with the European Union and international institutions are studied, and the interim results of such cooperation are presented. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the most acute issues typical of local administrations in almost all post-Soviet states, among which the author prioritises conflicts between different levels of government and administration, provoked mainly by a struggle over the scope of power and financial resources.

2019 Nyíregyháza City Council election

One of the main perspectives and urgent tasks of the newly formed government following the general elections of 2010 was to reform the local eletoral system. It is true, that the number of seats of the local representative bodies were significantly decreased, but it begs the question whether this change can reasonably explain the fact that the government considered this step as one of the first and most significant measures of its governance. To raise this question is justified by the fact that the reform (Act No. L of 2010 on the election of local government representatives and mayors) was introduced on June 14, 2010, with only sixteen days after the new Parliament approved and voted for the government’s program, and elected Viktor Orbán as prime minister of Hungary. After a brief presentation of the institutional framewortk of the local electoral system, the aim of this paper is twofold: first, I would examine whether the local electoral reform of 2010 could be considered as a „fair” step, based on John Ralws’ conception of „justice as fairness”, second, I would like to explain the actual process of transforming votes into local legislative seats in the case of the city of Nyíregyháza, in 2019.

Gender (dis)balance in local government: how does it affect budget transparency?

Balanced gender representation in local political life has been a subject of increasing interest to researchers. This paper, based on a unique database, analyses the representation of women in local representative and executive bodies and its impact on budget transparency (BT) in Croatian local governments. The panel analysis shows that a greater representation of women in local councils has a positive effect on the level of local government digital budgetary reporting. This is in line with gender literature settings and theories that explain BT, suggesting that the greater representation of women helps reduce information asymmetry, increase transparency, and promote government legitimacy. We do not find significant results in regard to women’s representation in local executive functions. A particularly indicative policy implication suggests the aim of increasing the gender balance in local political spheres, especially when deciding on good governance practices and fiscal disclosure requirements.

Отдельные вопросы организации прокурорского надзора за законностью закупочной деятельности на примере практики прокуратуры Томской области

Organization of prosecutorial supervision over the legality of procurement involves: collecting, analysis and processing of information on the state of procurement activities in a particular region; developing goals and objectives of prosecutorial supervision in procurement activities; planning work on the direct supervision of the state of legality, including conducting prosecutorial checks (scheduled, unscheduled); implementation of materials and results of conducted inspections and supervision activities; adjustment of the existing prosecutorial. One important aspect of the organizational activities of the Prosecutor's Office in overseeing the legality of the implementation of state and municipal contracts is to ensure proper interaction with public authorities and local authorities exercising powers in this area. The main forms of interaction are: Exchange of relevant information by the agencies concerned. In turn, prosecutors inform public authorities about the state of lawfulness, fight against crime and offences in the field of protection of entrepreneurs' rights in the implementation of state and municipal contracts. Proactively informing the prosecutor's office on the facts of revealing corruptogenic provisions in the legal acts regulating relations in the contractual sphere. Joint participation in preparation of regulatory legal acts concerning observance of entrepreneurs' rights in implementation of state and municipal contracts at the level of regional and local representative bodies. Participation of prosecution authorities in meetings of public authorities, local authorities, committees, working groups, as well as coordination, inter-agency meetings of heads of law enforcement agencies and authorities. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

MODERN TECHNOLOGIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN OF ACTIVITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT BODY

Introduction. The article is devoted to the issues of organizational design of the activity of the local self-government body. The article systematizes scientific approaches to the consideration of organizational design. Recommendations for the use of modern technologies of organizational design in the activities of local governments, including tools for modeling the organizational maturity of the organization, which is widely used by business structures are there. Goal. The purpose of this article is to systematize scientific approaches to the design and organizational activities of local governments and outline areas of implementation of modern technologies of organizational design in the practice of local government. Results. It is substantiated that in the conditions of decentralization to ensure effective interaction of subjects and objects of local self-government it is necessary to use modern technologies of organizational design. It is proved that organizational activity is an important component of the activity of a local self-government body, due to which the most important powers of local representative bodies are realized. Scientific approaches to the consideration of organizational design are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the technology of organizational design in public administration is both management technology and a tool for developing and implementing organizational innovations in the practice of management of public sector bodies and institutions. It is proposed to use, along with the already existing traditional methods of organizational design (expert, structuring goals, analogies, organizational modeling) tools for modeling the technological maturity of the organization, used in the practice of organizing the activities of business structures. Recommendations for the implementation of organizational maturity models in the practice of local government management have been developed and certain limitations on the possibilities of their application to assess the level of organizational maturity of local governments have been identified. The article presents an adapted model of organizational maturity for organizational design in local government.

Ensuring Sustainable Development of Local Self-Government: Foreign Experience for Ukraine

In order to build effective democratic governance under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine, local governments and elected representatives must have the knowledge and tools to manage modern and efficient resources, and local governments in general must increase their transparency, activities to strengthen citizens' trust in local political institutions. In its ambitious plans to implement effective governance, the Government of Ukraine is working to create a modern system of local self-government that promotes the dynamic development of regions and transfers as much power as possible to the level closest to citizens - communities. The article is devoted to the issue of ensuring the sustainable development of local self-government in Ukraine on the basis of the experience of building the system of local self-government in the European countries. Foreign experience with the existing system of local governments of Ukraine is compared. Local governments are classified into representative and executive. The practice of organizing their activities is studied. Both regional and local representative bodies and municipalities were studied. Different types of individual and collegial executive bodies of local self-government of foreign countries, methods of their formation, management models are given. The real state of the results of the reform of local self-government and decentralization, as well as the administrative-territorial system in Ukraine has been established. The main positive features of the system of local self-government bodies of foreign countries are identified and options for implementing sustainable development methods for self-government of Ukraine are proposed, including through effective state control, election of key local government officials, codification of local self-government legislation and balancing the status and powers of representatives and executive bodies of local self-government.

Dalit Women Panchayat Members in Haryana: Gender, Caste and Political Representation

Drawing on the latest round of elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state of Haryana in 2016, this article interrogates the substantial increase in the number of Dalit women representatives, based on fieldwork in a specific village. Since both Dalit and non-Dalit women present narratives of non-participation in the functioning of the village panchayat, it is argued that the increase in Dalit women representatives was not by design, but by default, due to an amendment of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 2015. Overall, in the studied village, women continue to remain marginalised in the local representative bodies, and gender-based quotas have only ensured numerical visibility of women.

ПРАКСА УСТАВНОГ СУДА РЕПУБЛИКЕ ХРВАТСКЕ У ОБЛАСТИ ПРАВА НАЦИОНАЛНИХ МАЊИНА, СА ПОСЕБНИМ ОСВРТОМ НА ЈЕЗИЧКА ПРАВА СРПСКЕ ЗАЈЕДНИЦЕ У ХРВАТСКОЈ

In the period from 2000 to the present day, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia has often faced the challenge of deciding on politically sensitive topics, especially when it comes to the need to protect the rights of both traditional and so-called “new” minority communities (which emerged from the constituent nations of the former Yugoslavia by the formation of new independent nation-states). The cases that occur in court practice are diverse, but mainly refer to cultural autonomy, representation of persons belonging to national minorities in local or regional representative bodies and equal representation in the public sector, as well as (official) use of language and script. The submitters of constitutional complaints, and the initiators of the procedures for assessing the constitutionality and legality of general legal acts, were guided by various motives; and the question is whether these motives influenced the work of the constitutional court, or in other words, whether the court remained faithful to its original role of protecting the basic, timeless values of the constitutional order of Croatia or was guided by current party policy programs. In addition to the general presentation of the legal regulation of minority rights, and the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court in Croatia, the paper analyzes cases related to the language rights of “new” minority communities, focusing on the arguments of both “parties” in the procedure and the constitutional court, as well. The goal of this paper is to present the practice of the Constitutional Court of Croatia in the field of language rights of national minorities through specific constitutional court cases, with special reference to the consistency of the court’s argumentation.

Рeculiarities of legal regulation of tax authorities of public authorities in Ukraine

The article reveals the peculiarities of the legal regulation of tax powers of public authorities in Ukraine. It is noted that the tax legal personality of the state is a direct consequence of the implementation of the public territorial entity's own tax sovereignty. It is emphasized that one of the main classification criteria for the division of public authorities with tax powers is the functional purpose and nature of the body. On the grounds of functional purpose and the nature of powers in the field of taxation, the investigated bodies are divided into: 1) bodies of general competence (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, local representative bodies); 2) bodies of special competence with the presence of part of the functions in the field of taxation (Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, State Treasury Service of Ukraine); 3) bodies of special tax competence (State Fiscal Service of Ukraine as a controlling body in the field of taxation). The content and structure of tax powers are considered. It is emphasized that the main distinguishing feature of the ratio of tax competence and tax powers is the possibility of delegating part of the powers, while the competence is not subject to delegation. Based on the analysis of the current legislation of Ukraine, the tax powers of public authorities and local governments are considered. The rights and responsibilities in the tax sphere of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, local councils are covered. In order to prevent violation of the principle of tax stability in the adoption of laws on taxes and fees, the Law of Ukraine "On the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine" should provide for the implementation of laws defining taxes, fees and their elements. It is the direct duty of the parliament to strictly adhere to the requirement of stability in its interpretation, which is set out in the Tax Code of Ukraine. To bring the Regulation on the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine in terms of tax powers in accordance with the Tax Code of Ukraine, it is necessary to set out subparagraph 39 of paragraph 4 of the Regulation as follows: The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine fees for a period exceeding one budget year, if the amount declared for installment or deferral or the amount of deferred or deferred monetary obligations or tax debt in respect of which payment is deferred is 1 million hryvnias or more; makes a reasoned decision to grant installments or deferrals of monetary obligations or tax debt in respect of national and local taxes and fees, as well as to postpone the payment of deferred or deferred amounts, if the amount of previously granted installments or deferrals of monetary obligations or tax debt was not repaid».

ПРАВОВЫЕ ОСНОВЫ РЕФОРМЫ МЕСТНОГО САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЯ В РОССИИ И МОЛДОВЕ

The article analyses modern legal methods used by the post- Soviet states to improve the performance of local representative bodies of self-government. The experience of the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation in the period after gaining their independence (1991) is used as an example. The author reimagines the formation of the Russian and Moldovan systems of local government, thus showing that the process was attended by a radical breakdown of the former command and administrative structures and by the widespread introduction, too hasty at times, of new forms of the state power and governance, specifically, at the local level. The article delves into the successful and unsuccessful attempts of the Moldovan and Russian leadership to increase the performance of local representative authorities. In particular, the author focuses on identifying, systematizing and conducting a comprehensive analysis of the typical for the post-Soviet states conflicts between different levels of the power and administration, which the author believes are primarily caused by the distribution of power and the management of financial resources. Finally, the author attempts to put in perspective the prospects for the development and performance increase of local representative bodies in Moldova and Russia in the wake of the recent global crisis trends.

Evolution of legal regulation of activity forms of members of representative bodies of local self-government in the Ukrainian lands within Austria-Hungary and pre-revolutionary Russia

The article deals with historical and legal aspects of the normative regulation of the forms of activity of the representative bodies of local self-government and their members on the Ukrainian lands, which were part of Austria-Hungary and pre-revolutionary Russia. It is shown that during the 60-90s of the XIX century, there was an accumulation of experience in the normative consolidation of the legal status and organization of the work of local representative bodies, the formation of the main forms of their activity. Attention is drawn to the fact that in both empires the adoption of liberal legislation on local self-government led to the activation of local rule-making. The content of national and local acts regulating the forms of activity of representative bodies of the late XIX – early XX centuries is analyzed. In its modern form, local government developed in the nineteenth century. as a result of the victory of liberal-democratic reforms in the world's leading states. Therefore, consideration of the evolution of legal regulation of the forms of activity of deputies of domestic local representative bodies should begin in the 1860s, when in Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire, which at that time included Ukrainian lands, local government began almost simultaneously. The period of functioning of representative bodies of local self-government in the Ukrainian lands as a part of Austria-Hungary and pre-revolutionary Russia (1862-1917) should be considered as the first stage of evolution of forms of activity of deputies of local councils in modern Ukraine. This was the stage of initiating the normative consolidation and practice of implementing the forms of activity of the deputy corps of domestic representative bodies of local self-government.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL LIFE OF ARAB-MUSLIM COUNTRIES: EXAMPLES FROM FOR TUNISIA AND LEBANON

The article emphasizes the importance of women's participation in the socio-political life of a country. While most European countries have already made some progress in the fight for gender equality, for most countries in different parts of the world, including in the Arab-Muslim world, gender equality remains unrealized. Nevertheless the understanding of the need for women's participation in public and political life is becoming increasingly clear. Equal representation of women in local governments, legislative and representative bodies is directly related to the economic and socio-political sustainable development of countries. The authors use the examples of Tunisia and Lebanon, which on one hand belong to the countries of the Arab world, and on the other hand, adhere to secular principles of government at the legislative level to analyze the historical development of ‘women’s' issues in countries where religion and politics are intertwined. The authors consider in detail that in these two countries traditions are still strong and religion is a powerful social and political factor, which influences the current state of gender equality and act as obstacles for women’s participation in politics at different levels of government.s.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the composition of maslikhats (On the example of the Karaganda region)

Maslikhats occupy a special place as a local self-government body. Currently, an urgent issue is to activate the work of maslikhats and increase their status. The main reason for the research was to find an answer to the question, what is the composition of the regional, city and district maslikhats, elected in 2016, whether it covered all layers of the local population. The main purpose of this article is to analyze the Deputy composition of local representative bodies, including maslikhats of the Karaganda region. To achieve this goal, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the composition of the regional, some city and district maslikhats was conducted. As a result of the study, we observe that the participation of all groups of the local population in the work of local maslikhats is uneven in terms of quantitative and qualitative composition. These conclusions were made when analyzing the composition of maslikhats at various levels of the Karaganda region. The composition of other maslikhats may differ. In the future, the results of this work can be used for developing programs for the development of local self-government, preparing for lectures in the disciplines of political science, public administration, political management, etc.

Actual directions of development of local self­government in the Republic of Belarus in the context of the European charter of local self­government

The article analyzes the views of scientists on the development of local self­government, as well as legislation and law enforcement practice in this area. The importance of local self­government for the formation ofBelarusas a democratic state is emphasized. Data on the number of persons elected to local representative bodies, as well as those participa­ ting in the work of territorial public self­government bodies, are given. The position is justified according to which collegial bodies that have a dual nature (Councils of Deputies) function in the system of local self­government bodies. They exercise authority on behalf of the state and at the same time are local governments. It is emphasized that the national legislation of any modern state is influenced by the norms of international documents, foreign experience, the study of which allows us to compare the level of development of public relations and their legal regulation, to identify potential and prospects. In this regard, considerable attention is paid to a comparative analysis of the provisions of Belarusian legislation and the European Charter of Local Self­Government. It is concluded that the European Charter has a significant potential for improving national legislation. Particular attention should be paid to the financial and economic system of local governments. A number of proposals have been made to improve legislation.