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For people of the Atlantic coast region, particularly the Miskito Indians.

This article aims at framing the notion of "self-government", as an activity capable of affecting the living condition of a community, whose member encounter a rupture in their life experience continuum. The restoration of the central role of social and political participation in our lives proves to be vital at this present time. The progressive disempowerment affecting individuals and human health, and the limited impulse of participatory and deliberative democracy in the renewal of democracy are two signs of this necessity. Notably, the development of sociability is essential to preserve individuals and to promote the definition of one's self as a social and political subject. ; Cet article vise à esquisser les contours de la notion d'autogouvernement, activité permettant d'influer sur les conditions de vie commune, lorsque les personnes concernées rencontrent une rupture du continuum de leur expérience. En effet, il semble aujourd'hui indispensable, au vu du « désempowerment » progressif affectant les individualités et la santé humaine et de l'insuffisance de la démocratie participative et délibérative à insuffler un renouveau démocratique, de resituer la participation sociale et politique au cœur du quotidien. Le développement de la sociabilité se pose notamment comme essentiel à la préservation des individualités et à la constitution de soi en sujet social et politique.

The issue of local government reform is high on the agenda in many developed democracies. The discussion is often framed in narrow terms, focusing on functional efficiency. In this article, we construct a normative argument for local government that values local government because it fulfills morally desirable purposes in itself, regardless of its functional efficiency. The argument is that the same foundational value – individual autonomy – constitutes the normative underpinning of both democracy and the right to local self-government. The implication is that if we value democracy, we must defend a strong and constitutionally protected local government.

The book "Social Theory, democracy and autonomy: an interpretation of the Zapatista self-government experience" is authored by Cassio Brancaleone. Launched in 2016 and published in 2015 by Beco do Azougue, the book, which totals 408 pages, received the "IESP Award", from the Institute of Social and Political Studies at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).The author is a Professor at the Federal University of Fronteira Sul (UFFS), Erechim campus, and his main research theme is social movements and popular self-organization in Latin America.
Received: 05/18/2018Accepted: 03/14/2019

The current discussion about nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) rests on the key assumptions that (1) to be effective, NGOs must be autonomous of both state and market institutions, and (2) NGOs' autonomy is best protected and nurtured by avoiding institutional linkages with state and market institutions. This article demonstrates that the quest for autonomy hurts the NGOs' effectiveness instead of strengthening it, particularly in the case of NGOs engaged in poverty-alleviation efforts in developing countries. The article concludes by recommending that NGOs work closely with market and state institutions, cleverly crafting institutional strategies that would provide access to resources controlled by these dominant institutions without jeopardizing NGOs' ability to chart their own destiny.

Writers of very different persuasions have relied on arguments about self-ownership; in recent years, it is libertarians who have rested their political theory on self-ownership, but Grotian authoritarianism rested on similar foundations, and, even though it matters a good deal that Hegel did not adopt a full-blown theory of self-ownership, so did Hegel's liberal-conservatism. Whether the high tide of the idea has passed it is hard to say. One testimony to its popularity was the fact that G. A. Cohen for a time thought that the doctrine of self-ownership was so powerful that an egalitarian like himself had to come to terms with it; but he has since changed his mind. I have tackled the topic of self-ownership glancingly elsewhere, but have not hitherto tried to pull together the observations I have made in passing on those occasions. The view I have taken for granted and here defend is that self-ownership is not an illuminating notion—except in contexts that are unattractive to anyone of libertarian tastes.

Autonomous labor and its attendant values have now become familiar tools of neoliberal capitalism: work has become freelance, flexible, mobile, project-based, hybrid and temporary. If these conditions are novel to the general economy, this way of working is not new to artists, who began experiencing these precarious conditions long before Post-Fordism was a buzzword. The contributors to Mobile Autonomy, drawn from a variety of disciplines including art, political philosophy and sociology, examine the alternate working methods and economic models developed, in theory and in practice, by artists and other creative professionals to make artistic work viable in contemporary social, economic and political conditions

AbstractThe interactions between bureaucratic agencies and political actors shape governance outcomes, yet scholars disagree about how bureaucratic autonomy relates to government quality. Some claim that enhancing autonomy improves quality, whereas others maintain the opposite. An influential article by Fukuyama (2013) in Governance suggests a curvilinear relationship, moderated by capacity. This article evaluates the theory empirically, focusing on within‐country variation and two dimensions of autonomy: independence and discretion. Drawing on an original survey of over 3200 public sector workers in Brazil and administrative data on 325,000 public servants, we find evidence suggesting that the relationship between perceived autonomy and quality depends on the type of perceived autonomy and level of capacity. Public servants' perceptions of independence from political actors are associated with increased perceptions about governance quality in a linear fashion. For perceived discretion, we find initial evidence of a Goldilocks relationship: too little reduces perceptions of government quality but so does too much, especially in low‐capacity areas. Our findings offer initial evidence that may qualify claims that limiting bureaucratic discretion while increasing political oversight improves governance; instead, context may be crucial.

The the changing approach on the nature of local governance in Hungary is reviewed by this chapter. During the Democratic Transition the evolvement of the Hungarian municipal system was based on the paradigm and approach of the European Charter of Local Government. Thus one of the most autonomous local government system of Europe evolved in Hungary. Although the municipal reforms were basically successful, several dysfunctional phenomena could be observed and the request for the municipal reforms was strong from the late 1990s in Hungary. The new constitution of Hungary, the Fundamental Law introduced a new model. The approach of the local governance has been transformed: the autonomy of the municipalities have been limited. Thus the autonomous nature of the Hungarian model changed and new challenges have appeared in the field of the implementation of the regulation of the Charter.

The article is devoted to determining the priority directions of local self-government bodies' activity in the development of regions. Local self-government bodies are public entities that are empowered to deal with issues that are relevant to the well-being of the respective territorial community. Protecting the interests of the local community is a key objective of local self-government. The reform of local self-government in Ukraine is currently underway, the main purpose of which is decentralization of state power with the provision of territorial communities with resources and the mobilization of their internal reserves to provide the population with an adequate level of services. Such a goal could be achieved through effective local government action on regional development. The article analyzes the normative and legal support of the capacities of local self-government bodies to determine the priority opportunities for the development of regions and to provide support for such development. It is established that the local self-government bodies in determining the priority directions of development of the regions should take into account various factors such as: geographical, demographic, personnel, environmental, economic, historical and cultural. Attention is drawn to the need for a comprehensive approach to the analysis of such factors by local governments. The article analyzes a number of factors that have a negative impact on the current state of regional development. The directions of activity of local self-government bodies to avoid or minimize the consequences of such influence on the development of regions are suggested. It has been established that local governments can use tax, information, innovation and other measures of influence in order to stimulate priority directions of regional development. The emphasis is placed on the role of local authorities in the development of tourist attractiveness of regions, in particular in the field of international and interregional cooperation as a means of forming a positive image of the regions, providing information and financial support for the development of this area of regional development.

This article considers whether room exists within the current system of nationalities regional autonomy (NRA) in China to accommodate Tibetan aspirations for "genuine autonomy" under the People's Republic of China (PRC) sovereignty. It examines the legal framework for NRA in China, as well as Chinese government policy and practice toward autonomous areas, in terms of the limitations and possibilities they imply for realizing Tibetan aspirations for autonomy, highlighting specific areas of concern, opportunities and constraints. It explores the development of political and legal approaches toward autonomy since the 1930s, the nature of the current framework and how recent legal and political developments interact with that framework. It looks at options for autonomy under the Chinese Constitution and national legislation, particularly the self-government of nationality (minority) autonomous areas as well as Article 31 of the Constitution which has provided the basis for the establishment of special administrative regions (SARs). Since autonomous areas also exercise the general powers of local governments in the PRC, it describes the general system of local government at the provincial and lower administrative levels. The article examines the practical implementation and operation of minority autonomy and SARs including the apparent gap between law and practice. In particular, special attention is paid to the role of the Chinese Communist Party and its officials which have a significant impact on the exercise of state powers. It concludes that there are formidable obstacles to the autonomy that Tibetans seek in order to preserve their culture, values and identity. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010. ; postprint