Armenian government commitments to decentralization policy and development of local self-governance

Abstract

The aim of this research is to study the present situation in the Republic of Armenia in terms of decentralization policy, and focus on compliance of national policies with the obligations undertaken by signing the European Charter of Local Self-Governance. After general introduction literature review follows. It represents the path the local self-government system in Armenia has passed since its establishment. Three waves of reforms of the system are introduced which include legislative, institutional, financial and policy-making changes made during the last two decades. Then this chapter reviews the reforms made in our neighboring states Georgia and Azerbaijan after ratifying the European Charter to compare with the level of development of the local self-government system in Armenia and to use their experience of successful reforms where necessary. The second part of the paper includes findings and analyses on the legislative framework of local self-government system, its compliance with the European Charter, introduces the failures and successes achieved till now, discusses the correspondence of financial resources and powers of local government bodies, reveals the role of local democracy and compares the level of decentralization in Armenia with the European countries. Finally the paper comes up with conclusions and some recommendations, the fulfillment of which will contribute to the elimination of current drawbacks and will promote further development of the system.