Characteristics of Forms of Autonomy

This article recasts our understanding of the forms autonomy may take. Rather than emphasizing a rigid set of definitions, the article argues that autonomy forms can be characterized by the aggregate number of issues controlled by the local community (scope), the level of local control over any given issue (depth) and the territorial insularity of the autonomous community. So characterized, autonomies run the gambit from personal to cultural to functional to administrative to legislative. Of course, there are grey areas between these types of autonomy and some agreements may fall somewhere in between. The article also further breaks legislative autonomy into strong and weak forms.