Quo Vadis? Putting Armenia on the Map of Local Autonomy in Europe

This article reviews the trajectories of local autonomy reforms across Europe during the 1990-2014 period, following the approach proposed by Ladner, Keuffer and Baldersheim (2015). While doing so, it also places Armenia on the map of local autonomy. The analysis is carried out through the review of national legislation pertaining to local governance as well as the recommendations of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. One of the main conclusions of this study is that in most countries there have been minor to any changes over the last 30 years. This is potentially reasoned by the ideas that these countries have reached an optimal level regarding at least several dimensions of local autonomy. Another conclusion was that local autonomy significantly increased in Armenia between 2014 and 2018. However, it did remain behind the European average. As to the question of whether the more autonomy has been granted to local communities, the answer is that it remains to be seen and an in-depth approach is required to respond to this question.