Territorial Autonomy

Many countries are confronted with ethnic conflict and the need to protect their national minorities. Regional autonomy is a device of territorial power sharing, which creates a legal-political framework for efficient minority protection and 'internal self-determination', without changing the concerned state’s boundaries. Applying this method, since 1921 sustainable solutions to serious and protracted state-minority conflicts have been developed in about 60 regions within at least 20 states. While aiming for the settlement of conflicts between central states and regional communities and allowing democratic self-government within the autonomous entity, territorial autonomy has received growing attention among national minorities, smaller and indigenous peoples, international organizations, and states willing to settle self-determination conflicts.

After explaining the theoretical concept of political autonomy in all its facets, the author guides the reader on an empirical travel through the multifarious world of the autonomy systems, today operating in all continents. This analysis probes the main issues of territorial autonomy and its practical applications: typical elements are worked out, factors behind autonomy's operations with varying degree of success in diverse locations are investigated and perspectives of further development highlighted.

Regional autonomy is a precious experience of how to settle self-determination conflicts through self-government, of how to arrange power sharing between the centre and a regional community for  the protection of regional identities in a democratic framework. Given the importance of regional autonomy as a means of conflict resolution and minority protection, this timely work provides for a new and comprehensive approach to autonomy, not just for experts and decision-makers, but also for readers interested in the political structures that shape the world around them.

Résumé
La fameuse note de Hans Corell sur l’exploitation des ressources naturelles du Sahara est devenue, en l’espace de quelques années, la doxa « juridique » pour un certain nombre d’acteurs internationaux (Etats, ONG, etc.). Mais ce qui étonne le plus, c’est qu’elle a été reprise à son compte par la Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne au prix d’un excès de pouvoir manifeste.  Pourtant, c’est un texte qui manque de substance car fait de formules péremptoires qui ne laissent pas de place à l’analyse et à l’argumentation juridique. Plus grave, il tourne le dos aux principes et règles du Droit International, en particulier ceux relatifs à la fin du statut de territoire non autonome et à la consultation des populations dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre du droit à l’autodétermination. Il tourne également le dos à l’évolution de la position des Nations Unies dans le conflit  du Sahara, conflit dont il occulte des éléments fondamentaux que le passage du temps a complexifiés.
Bien qu’elle n’ait jamais été entérinée par le Président du Conseil de Sécurité qui l’avait demandée, la note de Corell est devenue une doxa juridique dans l’affaire du Sahara par le biais de réseaux sociaux, qui font l’opinion publique: think tanks, ONG, centres d’études, lobbyistes, et un matraquage médiatique intensif et répété. Ces réseaux mettent à profit « l’ère du vide » où la pertinence d’un écrit juridique dépend moins de sa valeur intrinsèque que de la dose de matraquage dont il fait l’objet auprès de l’opinion publique.

The article focuses on two sets of autonomist demands that the far-right Sudeten German Party (SdP) in Czechoslovakia put forward during 1937–38. Its central thesis being that both sets were marked by a profoundly close interplay between territorial and non-territorial approaches at accommodating national diversity, it sets to explore this relationship, highlighting the underlying dynamic. Although the 1937 Volksschutzgesetze posed as an ostensibly “pure” case of non-territorial autonomy, whereas the 1938 Skizze über Neuordnung der innerstaatlichen Verhältnisse entailed major territorial provisions, in both cases the practical end-goal implied territorial autonomy. A closer look into their inner logic and intellectual origins however, also reveals a shared, essentially non-territorial underpinning. While the SdP agenda was firmly centered on national territory, its specific völkisch and organicist understanding of nationality manifested a clear preponderance of non-territoriality. Both sets of autonomist demands may thus be treated as a potentially maximalist combination of territorial and non-territorial arrangements resting on a fundamentally non-territorial notion of Volkspersönlichkeit. Encompassing all the members of the national group, the latter was simultaneously conceived as the basic carrier of political will. Volksschutzgesetze and Skizze thus represented clear examples of illiberal (re-)conceptualization of national autonomy, informed by contemporary völkisch sociological, legal, and political thought.

Many countries are confronted with ethnic conflict and the need to protect their national minorities. Regional autonomy is a device of territorial power sharing, which creates a legal-political framework for efficient minority protection and 'internal self-determination', without changing the concerned state’s boundaries. Applying this method, since 1921 sustainable solutions to serious and protracted state-minority conflicts have been developed in about 60 regions within at least 20 states. While aiming for the settlement of conflicts between central states and regional communities and allowing democratic self-government within the autonomous entity, territorial autonomy has received growing attention among national minorities, smaller and indigenous peoples, international organizations, and states willing to settle self-determination conflicts.

After explaining the theoretical concept of political autonomy in all its facets, the author guides the reader on an empirical travel through the multifarious world of the autonomy systems, today operating in all continents. This analysis probes the main issues of territorial autonomy and its practical applications: typical elements are worked out, factors behind autonomy's operations with varying degree of success in diverse locations are investigated and perspectives of further development highlighted.

Regional autonomy is a precious experience of how to settle self-determination conflicts through self-government, of how to arrange power sharing between the centre and a regional community for  the protection of regional identities in a democratic framework. Given the importance of regional autonomy as a means of conflict resolution and minority protection, this timely work provides for a new and comprehensive approach to autonomy, not just for experts and decision-makers, but also for readers interested in the political structures that shape the world around them.

Territorial autonomy remains important for the governance of divided societies. The question is rather which understanding of it dominates the political and scholarly debate. This contribution discusses different notions of territorial autonomy that have shaped this debate. It argues that a too narrow focus on concepts of ethnic-territorial autonomy such as multinational federalism fails to recognize challenges that studies on autonomy as a prescription for governing divided societies need to face. These are the issues of secessionism, political polarization and internal minorities within the autonomous territory. The paper concludes with an assessment of the track record of autonomy and highlights the importance of taking into account for such an assessment a number of legal and non-legal context factors. Put differently, territorial autonomy itself is only one of many factors contributing to (un)successful governance of divided societies.

South Tyrol is an autonomous province of Italy with 70 percent German speaking Tyroleans and 4,5 percent Ladin minority members located at the border with Austria. Since 1920 the historical Tyrol is divided in the Northern part (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy), which starting with 1948 has been vested with a certain degree of territorial autonomy. Since 2016 South Tyrol embarked in a debate about the reform of the legal basis of its autonomy, the autonomy statute of 1972, which is enshrined in the Italian constitution and based on an international treaty between Italy and Austria of 1946. For this purpose a participatory process, open to all South Tyrolean citizens, has been launched by the regional assembly. The book not only provides for a collection of proposals for amending several central issues of the autonomy, but offers also a unique analysis of the main shortcomings of this territorial autonomy which has been a compromise between the central state and the German speaking minority of South Tyrol.

In this article, the author analyzes the term "power-sharing" (PS) in the context of power exercised within a state. He first examines the term in the very general sense, in which it can be applied to all types and dimensions of power-sharing between various groups and institutional entities. Second, the author examines the meaning of the term in the narrow sense, that is, the phenomenon of systemic power-sharing by groups (segments) whose membership is based on ascribed criteria such as common ancestors, relatives, or racial background, and/or cultural ones such as a common language, religion, or celebrations. The basic segmental units in this sense are nations (understood in the sociological sense), ethnic groups, or religious and denominational communities that form part of divided societies. Third, the article shows the differences between the principal models (types) of PS in the narrow sense: consociationalism, centripetalism, and hybrid power-sharing. Published in "Studia Polityczne" 2018, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 9-30.
For more on combining institutions of different models of power-sharing see:
https://www.academia.edu/39989420/Hybrid_Power_Sharing_On_How_to_Stabilize_the_Political_Situation_in_Multi-segmental_Societies

Observa-se nas últimas três décadas a emergência política de diversas organizações indígenas nos países latino-americanos. Um divisor de águas desse fenômeno foi o levante armado do Exército Zapatista de Libertação Nacional (EZLN), em 1994, no estado de Chiapas (México). Entre as demandas já “tradicionais” dos povos indígenas, como a questão da permanência à terra, o movimento zapatista incluiu em sua pauta política a reivindicação por autonomia, entendida, nesse contexto, como um distinto regime jurídico-territorial que permita aos povos indígenas mexicanos o exercício concreto da autodeterminação. Após o fracasso na aprovação de uma lei que definisse os marcos legais desse regime, os zapatistas decidem consolidar unilateralmente a autonomia que já vinham desenvolvendo em suas comunidades, desde o final de 1994. A partir dessa “autonomia em resistência” suprimiram qualquer tipo de relação com o Estado. As mudanças dessas relações de poder se projetaram no espaço, onde, a partir da conformação de comunidades, municípios e zonas autônomas, criaram-se governos paralelos zapatistas, operantes até a presente data. O objetivo da pesquisa foi o de analisar a organização espacial destes territórios autônomos e as relações sócio-espaciais ali travadas, especialmente no que se refere à posse da terra e a divisão social do trabalho e da produção, tentando esquadrinhar, na medida do possível, os limites e potencialidades que o modelo autonômico oferece a outros grupos indígenas. Nosso embasamento teórico e histórico partiu da revisão bibliográfica já produzida a respeito –predominantemente mexicana- além de um trabalho de campo nos territórios zapatistas. Metodologicamente buscamos compreender a gênese dos processos e das contradições sociais que fomentaram o surgimento do EZLN com base na ideia de “formação territorial” e a partir  dos pressupostos da Geografia Histórica, ainda que nossa argumentação também tenha dialogado fortemente com a Geografia Agrária e Política. Soma-se a este esforço a tentativa de compreensão dos recursos ideológicos utilizados para o submetimento destas populações ao longo do processo de formação do Estado. A pesquisa apontou aspectos inovadores na estratégia política zapatista, entre elas a própria ideia de autonomia, que há possibilitado o empoderamento das comunidades indígenas frente aos modernos processos de despossessão territorial, entre outros fatores. Em contrapartida, na atual conjuntura política de Chiapas, os territórios autônomos demonstram-se com limitações estruturais de ordem econômica, o que, somado a uma nova ofensiva de forças chiapanecas refratárias ao projeto zapatista, vem dificultando, a nosso ver, o desenvolvimento das instituições autônomas e de novos projetos produtivos.

Immigration can have a significant impact on the demographic makeup of societies and raises important questions regarding their political future. The issue is of even greater significance at the regional level in so-called minority nations. Societies that are home to multiple identities and nation-building projects raise their own questions regarding the integration policies likely to be affected by the dynamics of immigration. This is particularly true when these societies have some degree of political autonomy and when the state (majority) institutions and regional (minority) institutions promote different conceptions of nation-building or citizenship.
As a general principle, it can be argued that, in pluricultural societies, immigrants tend to integrate into the cultural majority (that is, the dominant national culture) because it offers greater opportunities for social and economic mobility, a fact which can work against the distinct cultures of national minorities and determine the policies these pluricultural societies lay down through their powers of self-government. The concept of citizenship often plays a particularly important role for these policies.
This chapter analyses the role that the concept of citizenship plays in integration policies in the Basque Country. The Basque Country, or Euskadi, is one of the clearest examples in Europe of a minority nation in which at least two distinct, and even mutually exclusive, identities are in competition. At the same time, this is a case about which relatively little has been written and that unfortunately continues to be the subject of clichéd and antiquated notions rooted in the past.  The aim of this chapter is to put forth the hypothesis that Basque nationalism is inclusive and civic, and that, through regional institutions, it has created an informal citizenship with a strong social foundation which, despite some limitations on regional powers, embraces immigrants by offering social rights to all in order to promote integration in a Basque nation in which identities are not clearly defined. To support this hypothesis, the chapter explores the legal and political conceptions of citizenship in regional policies in the Basque Country and how they have evolved over the last fifteen years.

Since Sri Lankan ethnic conflict was considered as a confrontation between the majority Sinhalese and the
minority Tamils, the impact of conflict and civil war on other [minority] ethnic groups has always been sidetracked by major parties involved in resolving conflict. One of the communities severely impacted but always forgotten in the discourse of resolution process is the Muslims who ever resorted to violent agitations and arm rebellion to resolve their problem and achieve their political objectives. However, the constant impact of ethnic conflict and civil war on the lives and livelihoods of the community caused them to search for political and institutional mechanism to protect them. Muslim autonomy demand has emerged on this backdrop in the middle of 1980s and has been advocated by Muslim parties and public in the discourse of ethnic politics in Sri Lanka. There has been changing dynamics, phases of acceleration and sidetracks on the advocacy of the demand. This paper aims to examine the changing dynamics of the Muslim demand for territorial autonomy in the eastern
part of Sri Lanka. The study was conducted using both primary and secondary data collected from desk analysis and field survey conducted in three years. Analysis of the study is interpretive and descriptive in nature. Findings reveal that the fragmentation of Muslims politics, demerge of north-eastern province, and the new political context in eastern Sri Lanka not only caused to sidetrack the demand but also made the demand politically contested and irrelevant.

Åland is a very special region: autonomous, demilitarised, neutral, Swedish-speaking and Swedish-cultured, yet part of Finland. Since 1921, Åland has been self-governing by virtue of international agreements and a Finnish state law, and can be considered the oldest 'modern territorial autonomy' in the world. This form of self-government for Ålanders, sealed by the League of Nations on 24 June 1921, began in practice with the first session of the Åland Parliament on 9 June 1922.

В статье рассматриваются федерализм и территориальная автономия как механизмы реализации прав национальных меньшинств, проживающих на территории того или иного региона. На примере таких стран, как Россия, Китай, Индия и Южно-Африканская Республика автор показывает, что данные формы территориальной организации государства могут способствовать реализации как коллективных прав меньшинств, так и индивидуальных прав лиц, принадлежащих к меньшинствам, включая право пользоваться родным языком, право на получение образования на родном языке, право на сохранение и использование традиций своего народа, право на участие в управлении публичными делами. В контексте данной проблематики сравниваются подходы к признанию коллективной право-субъектности народов в конституциях рассматриваемых государств. Ключевые слова: территориальное устройство государства, федерализм, территориальная автономия, национальные меньшинства, права человека.

In the article, federalism and territorial autonomy are analyzed as mechanisms of realization of rights of national minorities concentrated in a geographical region. Using the examples of Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the author argues that the discussed forms of territorial structure of a state can be implemented for realization of the collective rights of minority groups as well as individual rights of persons belonging to minorities. These rights include the right to use mother tongue, the right to education in the mother tongue, the right to preserve traditions of the people and to follow them, the right of democratic participation, and others. In the context of the problem, the author compares the approaches to recognizing legal status of peoples (nationalities) as groups in the constitutions of abovementioned states.

The paper provides for an overview on territorial autonomy in India, focusing on the autonomy scheme regulated by the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Almost all of those territorial autonomies are located in India's Northeast (Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura) and also one in West Bengal, while the only ADCs existing in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (Ladakh and Kargil) have shifted to the status of a Union Territory in 2019. The paper also discusses the issue whether India's sub-state autonomies are "new ethnic spaces" and which could be useful amendments of the Sixth Schedule autonomy.

With more democracy to more autonomy, edited by Thomas Benedikter, collects the contributions of 25 experts to an educational project that explored the need for reform of South Tyrol's autonomy in 2013/14. Politicians from various parties, academics, activists from citizens' organisations have their say. An online survey yielded interesting results on the preferences of South Tyroleans for the revision of the statute. The volume concludes with a series of proposals for more citizen participation in the reform of the Autonomous Province of Bozen – South Tyrol.

In 2021, the first territorial autonomy, the Finnish Åland Islands, celebrates its 100th anniversary. For 100 years, autonomy has been applied to protect ethnic minorities and resolve domestic conflicts. Yet this concept is still underestimated. A new book offers an unclouded look at territorial autonomy back and forward. Thomas Benedikter, author of the standard work "Modern Autonomy Systems", brings background and critical assessments on territorial autonomy worldwide complemented with interviews with 10 outstanding personalities from politics and science of autonomous regions.

South Tyrol, autonomous province of Italy, since 2016 embarked in a debate about the reform of the legal basis of its territorial autonomy, the autonomy statute of 1972, which is enshrined in the Italian constitution and based on an international treaty between Italy and Austria of 1946. For this purpose a participatory process, open to all South Tyrolean citizens, has been launched by the regional assembly. The book not only provides for a collection of proposals for amending several central issues of the autonomy, but also an analysis of the main shortcomings of this territorial autonomy which has been a compromise between the central state and the German speaking minority of South Tyrol.

El artículo aborda las actividades propagandísticas de Juan Bautista Contardi a partir de su trayectoria en el gobierno y las comunicaciones del Territorio de Colonización de Magallanes. La propaganda contardiana es ubicada en el contexto de la instalación de una jerarquía sexual asociada al confinamiento de mujeres en ambientes domésticos. Cotejando fragmentos de propaganda patriota, propaganda obrera y propaganda política femenina, se concluye que la mencionada jerarquía modela la población y el territorio fuegopatagónico desde esos días hasta el presente.

Referendums are the classical method for legitimizing a decision on the status of a territory in a democratic system. Since 1994 not less than 60 cases of popular referendums have been registered all over the world to define the new political status of a territory, with options ranging from autonomy, free association to full sovereignty. The dossier analyses the significance of democratic processes on sovereignty, starting from an overview on referendums held since 1994.The second part ot the paper deals with the implications of this fundamental right and democratic procedure for Italy and the Autonomous Province of Bozen - South Tyrol.

Boris Krivokapic: ALAND ISLANDS - EIGHTH CENTURIES OF WIDE AUTONOMY
The paper covers various aspects of unique autonomy of Aland Islands. The author covers: basic data, historical background of the Aland autonomy, relevant legal sources (domestic and international), major elements characterizing Aland autonomy, such as  legislative competence of Aland; the competent authorities of the Aland (Aland parliament, executive and administrative powers); the authorities of the Republic on Aland; Aland delegation; the relation between the Republic and the Åland government; regional citizenship; the language used in Aland, international relations, etc.

The analysis starts from a clarification of the concept of territorial autonomy and based on four fundamental criteria distinguishes between “genuine autonomy” and “autonomy-like arrangement”. This enables the author to draw a precise list of regions with territorial autonomy around as working in 2020. Then, an overlook is given about the results of autonomy as applied so far in at least 70 regions of the world, before finally reflecting on today’s challenges. Which current sub-state conflicts could be solved by means of territorial autonomy? The author quotes ten examples of such conflicts, caused by state-minority tensions, and draws promising conclusions for the further application of this device for minority protection.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of development of Greenland’s autonomy,
especially vis-à-vis the Act on Greenland Self-Government of 2009, which ensures that decisions
on the future status of the island will be made by the people of Greenland. Compared to
other entities, Greenland is the only Arctic territory which can feasibly gain independence. This
study also discusses the relations between Denmark and Greenland in terms of post-colonial relations
between the former metropolis/colonizer and the island, outlining also the discourse on
independence in Greenland. The hypothesis posed in the paper is that the proceeds from mineral
extraction will not enable Greenland to become economically independent and abandon Danish
subsidies, and that the process of gaining sovereignty might result in Greenland becoming
dependent on external powers which will have a considerable impact on social relations on the
island. This means that the matter under negotiation is not so much whether or not Greenland
has the right to declare independence, but rather if it should take this step.

The volume collects the essays of about 30 experts, who actively shared a cycle of meetings in 2013/14 in Bozen (South Tyrol, Italy), focused on the reform of South Tyrol’s autonomy statute, organised by POLITiS and SBZ. The meetings aimed at the preparation of a larger process of citizens’ participation in the province and to provide expertise on the current shortcomings and requirements of reform of the autonomy statute. The essays contribute to highlight both proposals for the amendment of many features of South Tyrol’s autonomy and the requirement of a stronger involvement of the citizens into the reform process.

How can a modern territorial autonomy be defined and determined? Which criteria are essential and indispensable for determining a "genuine autonomy system"? How can such an arrangement between central states and single sub-state units be distinguished from other forms of vertical power sharing in given states? Which are the territorial autonomies working today in Europe and which lessons can be drawn from those experiences? The author in concise description provides for some useful tools to clarify types and categories of territorial autonomy as one of the most impoprtant forms of vertical power sharing.

Referendums are the classical method of legitimizing a decision on the status of a territory in a democratic system. Scotland's referendum on independence in 2014 has been just one of many processes of democratic self-determination of a substate community in recent times. Since 1994 not less than 60 cases of popular referendums can be counted all ove rth eworld to define the political status of a territory, with options embracing territorial autonomy, free association, full sovereignty. The dossier analyses the significance of democratic processes on sovereignts, starting from an overview on popular referendums held since 1994.
Referendums should be envisaged not only when a sovereign srarte is to be constittued, but also when it comes to change the internal status of a substate territory short of secession.
The second part of the paper deals with th eimplications of this fundamental right and democratic procedure for Italy and the Autonomous Province of Bozen - South Tyrol.

In the scientific literature there is still no comparative evaluation of Europe’s working regional autonomies, based on the empirical assessment of the performance of such systems, as it has been done in comparative studies on federal systems. Mostly the supposed “unique character” of each regional autonomy is of major hindrance. On the other hand the issue requires a complex set of empirical data and a well thought out methodological approach. Nevertheless, on political level, with regard to various conflict areas, proposals are elaborated and discussed, which try to transfer some so-called “success-models of political autonomy” from one region and state to another. Such an approach often turns out to be little appropriated as every autonomy system, indeed, has been established against a specific historical, political, social and ethnic-cultural background, aiming to accommodate the rights and needs of some particular national or ethnic minorities or smaller peoples in their traditional home region. As such it is the result of the particular dynamics and compromises made in those circumstances. But on the other hand each territorial autonomy is a legally defined form of vertical power sharing between the central sate and one concerned region, whose basic elements can be determined and systematically compared. Such elements, present in every autonomy system, can theoretically also be assessed on a empirical basis, which could bring about useful insight whether
- territorial autonomy is applicable in a given political context at all:
- which basic elements and regulations such an autonomy system should necessarily comprise in order to achieve some predetermined goals, shared by the conflict parties;
- which specific elements and regulations or which set of institutions and procedures could eventually be transferred, given their proven success and high performance in other existing autonomies.
The author starts from formulating the necessary conditions to determine a “working autonomy”, listing up all those systems, and carves out such basic elements from the statutory regulations of Europe’s 37 autonomy systems. This is complemented by a short review of the “best practices and minimum standards of autonomy regulations".

A typology of the existing forms of autonomy is required if operating autonomy systems are to be systematically classified and compared. As in the comparative analysis of federal systems, such a comparison of autonomies allows to understand which solutions under which conditions will yield the best results. The most successful regulations of territorial power sharing can be filtered out, covering possibly al existing autonomy systems, and these solutions may serve as “examples of best practice”. On the other hand, by carving out the fundamental elements of autonomy systems, the minimum standard of a modern autonomy can be defined. As a further step of research, a comparative evaluation of the results of such autonomy systems would be exciting, which requires a complex empirical assessment.

The paper schematically compares Europe's working territorial autonomies (in 2010), starting from the essential functions of such a system of vertical power sharing in a state. These functional elements have found different forms of application and solution within Europe's autonomy arrangements. A comparison of autonomy systems as a whole is a too complex endeavour, especially if assessing the concrete performance of these systems, but single elements and regulations can and should be compared, concludes the author.

Which are the key factors of success territorial autonomy as revealed by decades old empirical evidence of some 65 working autonomy systems in the world? Which lessons can be learnt from the experience of European autonomous regions? Starting from an overview on the current situation of territorial autonomy in Europe the author provides for an abridged analysis of the effectiveness of this device of vertical power sharing and self-government. Finally the paper checks whether "Morocco's Initiative for the Sahara Region" of 2007 will ensure a working autonomy and could serve as the solution of this 45 years old conflict or rather falls short of this ambition.

Az autonómia különösen aktuális manapság, amikor a külhoni magyar közösségek nagy része az autonómia valamilyen formájának elérését tűzte ki céljául. Magyarország támogatja ezeket a törekvéseket, ezért a hazai közbeszédnek is része az autonómia. A könyv a területi autonómiával foglalkozik, amelyről például Erdélyben illetve a Székelyföldön, Kárpátalján, a Felvidéken vagy éppenséggel a Vajdaságban ma már nemcsak elméleti keretek között foglalkoznak a magyar közösségek, hanem az nagyon is a hétköznapi, gyakorlati érdekvédelmi és érdekképviseleti tevékenység részét képezi. Tóth Norbert arra kíván válaszokat adni, hogy milyen nemzetközi jogi jogcímek segítségével érhető el az autonómia és milyen nemzetközi jogi keretek között kell azt működtetni. Az olvasó ezenkívül képet kap a legismertebb autonóm területek (például: Dél-Tirol, Katalónia, Skócia vagy az Åland-szigetek) működéséről és a nemzetközi kapcsolatok folyamatosan változó természetéről is.

The first part of the study looks at the historical context of the symbolic and territorial competition between Romanians and Hungarians, dwelling on the issue of Transylvania and the competition for historical legitimacy. It bridges, against this background, the question of Hungarian identity to a concept developed elsewhere as a part of a national minorities doctrine: that of community privacy. Territorial autonomy , currently invoked in several Hungarian projects, represents one possible answer to the need for the community privacy of Hungarians in Romania. Another manifestation of community privacy is cultural autonomy. The study then discusses the provisions of the current draft law on the statute of national minorities in Roma-nia and shows that it has reduced cultural autonomy to its political dimension. This form of reductionism, together with the role granted to organizations of citizens belonging to the national minorities, harms the internal democracy of minority communities. Given the current political and social context, in order to be successful in their promotion of autonomy the relevant actors in the Hungarian community must overcome their differences and agree on a set of minimal goals as an expression of their identity as a community.

Publikację rozpoczyna materiał poświęcony 25-leciu polskiej samorządności
widziany poprzez pryzmat zmian zawartych w ordynacjach wyborczych.
W dalszej kolejności wskazano na europejską i polską politykę regionalną.
Z elementem tym związane są następne artykuły odnoszące się do euroregionów oraz województwa zachodniopomorskiego, które stało się kolejnym europejskim regionem. Od średniowiecza na terenie Pomorza Zachodniego budowano nie tylko społeczności lokalne i regionalne, ale na skutek procesów politycznych doszło do powstania tam ośrodków władzy państwowej Księstwa Zachodniopomorskiego. Stolicą tego podmiotu był Szczecin, ale władza księcia rozciągała się po obu stronach Odry. Po kilkusetletniej jego działalności uległo ono rozczłonkowaniu w latach wojny 30-letniej w 1. połowie XVII w., jednakże pozostałości po tamtym podmiocie polityczno-ustrojowym występują do współczesności. Stąd potrzeba odnowienia więzi nie tylko społecznych między poszczególnymi społecznościami, ale i zadbania o jego zabytki, wspólne dziedzictwo Odry i Bałtyku oraz inne. Część niniejszą kończą dwa materiały odnoszące się do pilskiej społeczności lokalnej i regionalnej, która w pierwszym okresie transformacji posiadała rangę województwa, po czym została włączona do Wielkopolski.
Główną myślą przewodnią niniejszej części stało się przedstawienie polskich
zmian lokalnych i regionalnych w ostatnim ćwierćwieczu z zaznaczającym się wpływem województwa zachodniopomorskiego.

Boris Krivokapic ALAND ISLANDS - EIGHTH CENTURIES OF WIDE AUTHONOMY Summary This is a chapter from a book dedicated to Aland islands and their unique autonomy. The author covers all important aspects of the issue: historical background of Aland autonomy, relevant legal sources, basic solutions, etc.