ASSOCIATED TERRITORIAL POPULATION AS A NEW LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT SUBJECT: SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

The study of the united territorial communities and the definition of their essence has intensified in the last four years in the context of the reform of local self-government and territorial organization. Despite the increasing attention of modern scholars to the problem of decentralization, the subject of united territorial communities (UTC) is insufficiently studied, a comprehensive study of this phenomenon is generally absent, and its deep philosophical content and role in socioeconomic processes have not yet been disclosed. In addition, the analysis of scientific concepts, which highlights some aspects of the formation and functioning of UTC, testifies to the episodic and fragmentary nature of research mainly in the state-management aspect, which indicates the stage of implementation of decentralization tendencies in the system of local self-governance and clearly demonstrates the need for further scientific developments. The united territorial communities have become today the only opportunity to form effective territorial entities that can really create conditions for the development and effective functioning of members of territorial communities in the context of their welfare. Accordingly, the study of categorical apparatus in the sphere of territorial communities' association in the process of reforming local self-government and decentralization of government is becoming an urgent necessity. The article investigates the scientific approaches to the defining characteristics of the united territorial communities. It was revealed that the categorical apparatus in domestic scientific research and current normative legal acts is characterized by inconsistency and does not allow to determine the essence of the united territorial community in the system of local self-government.