Local self-government or local co-governance?

Abstract

The article discusses “local self-government”, a core concept in a charter of the Council of Europe, and departs from a debate in the Norwegian Parliament about constitutional protection of local self-government. Newly, such a change was voted down, and this serves as an opportunity to question the idea about local self-government in a time when there are claims about a shift from government to governance. The article provides examples of co-governance in Norway, and argues that the meaning given by “local self-government” is not obvious. It also points to some possible issues in a future revision of the mentioned charter. KEYWORDS: • self-government • co-governance • governance • Norway • Council of Europe