Vol.1, No 1, 1997 pp. 233 - 269
UDC: 352
LOCAL AND REGIONAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
IN A DEMOCRATIC THEORY
Vojislav Stanovčić
Faculty of Political Sciences, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Abstract. This paper points to a great role the local self-government
played in the development of the so-called civilian society and democracy
and what its place in the democratic theory is, among the ideas developed
in the reformation and in the processes of limiting and overgrowing political
absolutism by means of revolutions, uprisings for liberation of people.
It is shown that the sense of theories on "separation of power" was establishment
of the checks and balance among the various branches and levels (local,
regional, state). As the so-called horizontal separation of power was taken
as a condition to guarantee freedoms and a hindrance to absolutism, so
the local self-government in theory can be observed as an important element
of the vertical separation of power serving the same purpose. The importance
of the relations, even conflicts, political interests and political wills
of parts and wholes were pointed out by the democratic thought. Among the
basic differences between the democratic and despotic and authoritarian
systems on the other hand, also included are the differences in relations
of parts and the whole, narrower communities and the authorities in them
towards the authorities of the wider communities. To estimate the character
of the government and self-government system, the nature and the scope
of the circle of competencies and its character (original or transferred)
are taken, whether and how much the separation of competences is based
upon the constitution and how much the self-government is implemented,
that is, participation of the population and other subjects (of corporate
type) in administering or electing rulers. An entire scale of possible
relations from the mere deconcentrating or detachment of affairs up to
confederalism is given and what place in that scale of forms belongs to
the local and regional self-government; also pointed out are the differences
between the Anglo-Saxon and the continental European system. A lot depends
upon the fact whether the basic principle-goal is administrative efficiency
or meeting the population needs (everyday life quality improvement). Supported
are the ideas that a truly democratic power is essentially federal and
polyarchic in its character, which means that each must have some circle
of competences stipulated under the constitution and on the rule of law
principle which cannot be arbitrarily changed by some higher authorities.
This paper points to great social, technological and political (state
strengthening) changes that changed the character and position of the local
communities in the categories given by the great European sociologists,
as well as to the researches which dealt with stipulating the character
of relations and decision making in the local communities, atomizing the
society and manipulating the mass society within which lives a lonely crowd
of people. A conclusion is drawn from this in favour of smaller communes
within which everyday questions are resolved and larger units of the regional
self-government.
Key words: self-government, local community, rule of law,
Serbia, regionalism
LOKALNA I REGIONALNA SAMOUPRAVA
U DEMOKRATSKOJ TEORIJI
Rad ukazuje na veliku ulogu koju je u razvitku tzv. civilnog društva i
demokratije imala lokalna samouprava i kakvo je njeno mesto u demokratskoj
teoriji, među idejama razvijenim u reformaciji i u procesima ograničavanja
i prevazilaženja političkog apsolutizma, revolucijama, ustancima za narodno
oslobođenje. Pokazuje se da je smisao teorija o "podeli vlasti" bio uspostavljanje
uzajamne kontrole i ravnoteže (checks ana balance) između različitih grana
i nivoa (lokalni, regionalni, državni). Kao što je tzv. horizontalna podela
vlasti uzimana kao uslov za garantovanje sloboda i prepreka apsolutizmu,
tako se i lokalna samouprava u teoriji može posmatrati kao važan elemenat
vertikalne podele vlasti, koja služi istoj svrsi. Demokratska misao je
isticala značaj odosa, pa i sukoba, političkih interesa i političkih volja
delova i celine. Među osnovne razlike između demokratskih i s druge strane
despotskih i autoritarnih sistema, uvrštavaju se i razlike u odnosima delova
i celine, užih zajednica i organa vlasti u njima prema organima vlasti
širih zajednica. Za procenjivanja karaktera sistema uprave i samouprave
uzimaju se priroda i obim kruga nadležnosti i njen karakter (originerna
i prenesena), da li je i koliko podela nadležnosti zasnovana na ustavu,
i koliko se ostvaruje samouprava tj. učešće stanovništva i drugih subjekata
(korporativnog tipa) u upravljanju ili biranju upravljača. Daje se čitava
skala mogućih odnosa od puke dekoncentracije ili detaširanja poslova do
konfederalizma i koje mesto u toj skali oblika pripada lokalnoj i regionalnoj
samoupravi, a ukazuje se na razlike između anglosaksonskog i kontinentalnog
evropskog sistema. Mnogo zavisi od toga da li je osnovni princip-cilj admi-nistra-tivna
efikasnost ili zadovoljavanje potreba stanovništva (podizanju kvaliteta
svakodnevnog života). Podržavaju se ideje da je istinski demokratska vlast
bitno federalna i poliarhijska po svome karakteru, što podrazumeva da svako
mora imati neki krug nadležnosti utvrđeni ustavom i na principu vladavine
prava, koji ne može arbitrerno menjati neka viša vlast.
Ukazuje se na velike društvene, tehnološke i političke (jačanje države)
promene koje su promenile karakter i položaj lokalnih zajednica u kategorijama
koje su dali veliki evropski sociolozi, kao i na istraživanja koja su se
bavila utvrđivanjem karaktera odnosa i odlučivanja u lokalnim zajednicama,
atomizacijom društva i manipulisanjem masovnim društvom u kojem živi usamljena
gomila ljudi. Iz ovoga se izvodi zaključak u prilog manjih opština u kojima
se rešavaju svakodnevna pitanja i većih jedinica regionalne samouprave.
Ključne reči: samouprava, lokalna zajednica, vladavina prava,
Srbija, regionalizam
