Teritorijalna osnova lokalne samouprave – opća načela teritorijalne podjele te uvjeti i faktori koji je determiniraju ; Territorial basis of local self- government- general principles of the territorial organisation and conditions and factors that define it

Abstract

U radu se izlaže prvi dio prijedloga analitičkog okvira za opće razmatranje teritorijalne osnove lokalne samouprave. Obrađene su dvije sastavnice tog okvira: 1. opća načela na kojima se treba zasnivati podjela teritorijana lokalne samoupravne jedinice i 2. uvjeti koji ograničavaju odnosno faktori koji utječu na teritorijalnu podjelu. Valjanost analitičkog instrumentarija provjerava se na komparativnom materijalu. ; The paper contains the first part of the analytical framework for theoretical analysis of the territorial basis of local self-government. Two components of the framework have been dealt with: 1) general principles on which territorial organisation should be based in any developed local self-government system, and 2) conditions that limit and factors that influence any territorial organisation. With regard to general principles, the author differentiates between the principles of the territorial basis of the whole local self-government system and the principles related to the determination of the territory of individual local self-government units, i.e., parts of local self-government system. The principles related to the whole local self-government system are coverage, stability, rationality, and organisational adequacy of the territorial division, while the principles on which the territory of local self-government units should be based are the wholeness of a self-government unit, uniformity of local selfgovernment units, financial capacity and independence, democratic quality of local governance, and accessibility of local services. Each principle has been analysed with regard to its limitations and problems concerning its implementation. The author points out contradictory implications that may arise from the implementation of certain principles related to territorial determination of local self-government units. The second component of the analytical framework deals with objective conditions and subjective factors that determine and influence territorial organisation. These conditions and factors have been grouped and systematised into eight groups according to the degree of their invariance: natural characteristics of the territory; network and types of settlements; population characteristics; administrative-territorial tradition; level of economic development; transport and communication networks; efficiency and effectiveness of local services; and political aims and interests. The validity of analytical tools has been corroborated by the examples from comparative local self-government. The second part of the analytical framework containing the main problems of any territorial division to local self-government units and their possible solutions is forthcoming.