Regions and Local Self-government in the Order of a State as Exemplified by Italy

Abstract

1)THE AXIOLOGY OF AUTONOMY: „Laberta dei Cittadini”, „Patriae Unitati” i.e.: The Liberty of the Citizens and the Unity of the State, which is an undeniable value under the good and secure guardianship of the Constitution of the Republic of Italy.
2)ASSUMPTION: A good State enables an autarchic participation of regional and local communities and demands respect of the communities' rights to administer their affairs on the basis of the subjectivity of the individual in relation to administration in the unity of differences „nella armonia discors”.

The main thesis of the study is the claim that the development of regional autonomy in a State contributes to its strengthening and smooth functioning. The thesis is demonstrated on the example of Italy where regionalisation and local self-government, operating within statue, legislative and financial autonomy, do not undermine the unity of the State; on the contrary, they improve the realization of state functions and accomplish institutional order.

The analysis of the regions in relation to the State clearly reveals the structure of the public order in the republican system in the conditions of a specific model of territorial autonomy.

Presenting Italy as a Republic of Autonomous States I examine the phenomenon of regionalization as well as consistent implementation of the idea of complementarity in the co-existence of regions and the state. I present an analysis of the polycentric guarantee for regional autonomy provided for by the Italian Constitution of 1947.

In my dissertation I try to show an example of broadest practical decentralization enabling the best possible functioning of local communities; I point to the fact that regionalization means a change of the system of the so-far centralized state in order to rationalize its functions which, first and foremost, requires a provision in the Constitution. Italian solutions concerning regional autonomy exhibit many original features and constitute, without doubt, a good example of creating order in a state.