In the effort to examine local governments within a country, the first place to look at would be the constitution of that state. Constitutions usually provide us with important information about local governments; on their types, competencies, revenues and various other characteristics. This study aims to compare the clauses devoted to local governments in the constitutions of 23 European Union (EU) member states and Turkey. While there are certain studies concerned with how local governments are worded within constitutions, these are generally singular cases focusing on one country alone. This chapter aims to provide comparative and informative information on local governments in the constitutions of the related states by categorizing the most commonly stipulated clauses.
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In the effort to examine local governments within a country, the first place to look at would be the constitution of the state. Constitutions usually provide us with important information on local governments; on their type, competency, revenue and various other characteristics. This study aims to compare the clauses devoted to local governments in the constitutions of 23 European Union (EU) member states and Turkey.
In the selection of EU countries, 23 unitary countries (covering Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) have been chosen. Only five states of the EU have been omitted: Austria, Belgium and Germany, which are federal states; United Kingdom since it does not have a constitution and Cyprus which, despite having a de jure constitution since 1960, it has not been implemented since the country is de facto split into two parts.1
While there are certain studies concerned with how local governments are worded within constitutions, these are generally singular cases focusing on single country alone. This chapter aims to provide comparative and informative information on local governments in the constitutions of the related states by categorizing the most commonly stipulated clauses.