Glocalization and the Decentralization of Public Power in Ukraine

Abstract

This article explores the constitutional reform intended to promote decentralization in Ukraine. The reforms are currently being implemented and represent the manifestation of glocalization in the territorial organization of public power and local self-government. For the purposes of this article, glocalization is understood to mean a process of social development. Thus, in the context of globalization, regional and local differences are maintained or even strengthened rather than being dissolved. We assert that glocalization can be used to analyse – in-depth – the impact of reforms in the redistribution of power and financial resources on local (socio-political, legal, mental, and other) specifics. Notwithstanding, decentralization defines only the strategy and the main direction of relevant reforms, whereas their content, scope, consistency, and timing may vary depending on the tactics and ideology of the reformers. The article sets out the ways in which glocalization manifests itself in the decentralization of public power in Ukraine, in particular, how local self-government is being transformed by numerous factors. These include: conditions of “asymmetric” unitarism and social democracy; a combination of political and fiscal types of decentralization; specifics of power redistribution at the oblast (region), raion (district) and basic levels; as well as preference for bureaucratic forms of local self-government over municipal forms of direct democracy.