INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINE’S AMALGAMATED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of institutional challenges of inclusive development of amalgamated territorial communities in Ukraine. The research substantiates that inclusive development has a distinct institutional nature and is determined not by the formal expansion of powers, but by the action of a complex of institutional mechanisms. The study systematizes four groups of mechanisms for ensuring inclusive development: normative-legal mechanisms that define the framework conditions for the functioning of communities; organizational-managerial mechanisms that transform norms into management decisions; financial-economic mechanisms that regulate the distribution of resources; and communicative-participatory mechanisms that institutionalize the participation of the population in governance. The article identifies key institutional challenges that limit the effectiveness of these mechanisms in the practice of Ukrainian communities. Limited financial capacity of a significant part of communities prevents them from providing quality services for all categories of the population and financing inclusive programs. Insufficient institutional capacity of local self-government bodies is manifested in the deficit of qualified personnel and weakness of strategic planning systems. Low level of public trust in authorities blocks the mechanisms of civic participation. The weakness of civil society institutions in rural areas limits the possibilities for articulating the interests of rural population. Specific challenges are produced by the state of martial law, which exacerbates the problems of vulnerable groups while limiting the resources of communities. The research proves that the effectiveness of each group of mechanisms depends on their coherence within a unified institutional environment of the community. The study proposes a comprehensive approach to overcoming the identified challenges, which combines improvement of legislation, differentiated state support, development of institutional capacity of local self-government bodies, creation of regional support centers, and introduction of inclusiveness monitoring system. The perspectives for further research are related to empirical analysis of the relationship between institutional capacity and socio-economic results of community development.