Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies

Foreword

The role of institutional mechanisms for maintaining good governance has been highlighted in politics globally during 2024 – through examples in states at different points in a scale of  democratic governance - on national as well as local, intra-state levels.

Institutions, such as formal autonomies, carry not only a measure of independence, but also an ethos of governance based on the reason for having an autonomy in the first place. When institutions are challenged by political leaders, as noted also in democratic countries, it is de facto proof of the relevance of these institutions – they represent a feature of the state not fully possible to control.

This is of course one of the ideas of an autonomy. It should not be possible to be controlled externally in the same way as other parts of a state. Its primary defence for such illegitimate control is its institutions, anchored inside and outside the autonomy.

In this Issue of Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies we find two texts: first, a text is presented that is highlighting five distinct types and reasons for shaping a system of protection against illegitimate interference into the interests within a given territory. Secondly, an article that illustrates the risks that are coming with a blending of levels, informal and formal agreements and external interests for the management of resources in a given domain.

While the two texts seem to deal with separate things – and they are! - a closer reflection, actually, highlights the need for, and the experiences that there are from, building institutional mechanisms in defence of rights, and therefore of democracy as a whole.

Hopefully these texts invite further reflection on the challenges towards institutional protections of rights through for instance autonomy or comparable arrangements. The pages of JASS are open to a discussion of these and other issues in 2025.

Welcome to join the readers of Volume 8, of JASS, 2024!

Kjell-Åke Nordquist