M. Dragomanov’s decentralization ideas in the context of Ukraine’s european integration advancement
Vermenych Ya.
Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4445-9492
Abstract
The article attempts to reinterpret M. Drahomanov’s concepts of decentralization and local self-government within the context of realizing the ideas of Ukraine’s European advancement. The methodology is based on the application of the principle of anthropocentrism, which represents the human being as the main actor in the socio-political process and focuses on understanding their social status and civic identity. The main results involve actualizing the «European nature» of the Ukrainian idea and the European foundation of the Ukrainian spiritual and intellectual heritage, as well as the Europeanization of philosophical, political, and historical thought formed and developed in the 19th century under the influence of M. Drahomanov’s humanistic views. The fundamental provisions of the concepts of decentralization and federalization, which M. Drahomanov considered priorities for building a just society where self- government and freedom at the local level are dominant principles, are analyzed. The conclusions demonstrate that M. Drahomanov’s geopolitical concept is a unique phenomenon for its time, combining diverse trends in Ukraine’s European integration progress. The theory of socio-political transformations was based on justifying Ukraine’s European geopolitical choice in the context of the balanced development of national policy in Western and Eastern Europe. The public administration system was built on European principles of decentralization and local self-government, borrowed from the Swiss experience. The scale and level of conceptualization of the decentralization problem allowed the scientist not only to fit this phenomenon into the context of the era but also to reveal the state-building, social, and political essence of self-government principles as factors of political freedom and Ukraine’s European progress.
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