Local autonomy and principle of Subsidiarity in Europe and Turkey

The globalization process emerged in the 1980's, caused to begin questioning the classic structure of the nation-state and brought local governments in the foreground while leading to direct contact between local governments and the global capital. In this process, local autonomy and principle of subsidiarity, which are related to locality, became the most argued concepts. Local autonomy is an autonomy of decision making about the common and civil needs of people who live in a certain village, town or city, by the executive organs they choosed. Its meaning also includes administrative and financial ability to execute these decisions. In terms of the meaning of the concept in power-sharing between central government and local government, the principle of subsidiarity envisage that giving priority to sub-units in joint action field which are closer to citizen and central government should intervene in cases where local governments are inadequate to achieve their goals. This assistance is not a permanent help in contrast intended to bring local government to level to fulfill their function. These two concepts constitute the subject of this study.