Autonomy (political science)
Autonomous areas are territories within a state that administer themselves internally. They have their own legislative bodies and political structures, but are also subject to the legislation of the superordinate state and are represented by it in terms of foreign and security policy . They are not sovereign states.
Autonomous areas
Autonomous areas are often located within states in which there are strong minorities .
Current examples
- Asad Kashmir ( Pakistan )
- Kurdistan Autonomous Region ( Iraq )
- Åland ( Finland )
- Gagauzia (to Moldova )
- Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (to Azerbaijan )
- Karakalpakistan (to Uzbekistan )
- Faroe Islands and Greenland (to Denmark )
- many republics of the Russian Federation (see also the administrative structure of Russia )
- partly former colonies , e.g. B. those of the United Kingdom and France
- Vojvodina to Serbia
- Republika Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (on Bosnia and Herzegovina )
- Inner Mongolia , Guangxi , Ningxia , Tibet and Xinjiang are the autonomous regions of the People's Republic of China , there are also 30 autonomous districts , 117 autonomous counties and 3 autonomous banners as further autonomous administrative units of China
Partial autonomy
An administrative unit or a federal state of a state can decide completely independently about its own interests in certain areas of competence. For example, the cantons of Switzerland have freedom of choice in all areas that have not been expressly delegated to the Confederation and as long as the decisions do not contradict the federal constitution . This includes large parts of the education system , internal security , social and health systems .
Certain administrative units of a centrally governed state have certain areas of competence in which they are free to decide their interests. For example, the French region of Alsace has partial autonomy in the otherwise centralized education system . This affects the extent and design of German lessons and regulations on the use of the German language in lessons .
Italy is a special case
In recent years, the state of Italy has devolved some of its powers to the regions. Since then, they have enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy. Health care and tourism e.g. B. now fall more in the regional area of responsibility.
The islands of Sicily and Sardinia and the border regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige , which are inhabited by minorities , have an autonomy regulated by a special statute (a law with constitutional status). In Italy these regions are called autonomous regions. In fact, the financial autonomy goes further than that of the German and Austrian federal states, for example, since 60 to 100 percent of all taxes are due to the regions mentioned.
Special case Spain
After 1978, 17 autonomous regions were created in Spain . The constitution expressly guarantees the regions their autonomy. But it provides for the respective autonomy statutes are only a flexible framework that allows for individual further or closer autonomy for each region. The Basque Country , Navarre and Catalonia , with the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia , therefore occupy a special position. The three regions have their own police body, the Ertzaintza in the Basque Country, the Policía Foral in Navarra and the Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia. This special role is mainly due to the respective history, which was shaped for centuries by paternalism and oppression by the central government in Madrid (see History of Spain ).
The 17 regions are considered highly indebted. Their indebtedness has risen sharply since the bursting of the property bubble in Spain (2007/8). Since the summer of 2012, this debt has been a public topic in the euro area.
See also
Web links
- Jane Dryden: Autonomy: Overview. In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .
- Mark Piper: Autonomy: Normative. In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .