Financing of Local Self-Government on Different Continents – Case Study

According to the European Charter of Local Self-Government of 1985, local self-government denotes the right and the ability of local authorities, within the limits of law, to regulate and manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own responsibility and in the interests of local population. Local self-government takes care of this matter and provides key elements for the functioning of local and regional communities. It complements and also becomes a type of a counterweight to state power. Financial resources are necessary for the operation of local self-government. These financial resources can come from various sources, for example: subsidies, taxes or issued bonds. It is worth a closer look at this issue from a perspective of countries located on different continents. The article will have a form of a case study. The objective of the article is to present and compare the structure of local self-government and its financing sources on three continents: Europe, Africa and South America, each represented by one country: Poland (a leading economy in East-Central Europe), Nigeria (MINT) and Brazil (BRICS). The conclusion of the article will be that indicated countries have diversified sources of local self-government financing.