What Local Self-Government Is and How It Differs from Local Administration

Two terms – two approaches

Local administration:

• Top-down hierarchy – akims are appointed or confirmed by the centre
• Implements policy from Astana at the local level
• Funded from the national budget
• Accountable to higher-level akims and the President

Local self-government:

• Bottom-up initiative – residents decide local issues themselves
• Forms include: residents' assemblies, public councils, elected akims
• Funded from the local budget
• Accountable to residents

A practical example: the road in your village is repaired not because Astana included it in a plan, but because residents and their elected akim decided it was a priority – that is self-government.

Current framework

Since 2021, akims of villages and settlements are elected by residents. This is the first step toward genuine self-government. At the district and city level, appointment remains the current practice.

What the 2026 Constitution changes

• Constitutional recognition of self-government – not merely a statutory rule but a provision of the fundamental law
• Extending elected accountability for akims to higher levels
• Strengthening the role of mаslikhats
• Greater financial autonomy for local budgets

Self-government is not separatism. It is the resolution of local issues by residents within a unified state – as practiced in democratic countries from Sweden to South Korea.

• Local administration = top-down hierarchy (appointed akims)
• Local self-government = bottom-up initiative (elections, residents' assemblies, local budget)
• Since 2021 – village akims are elected; the 2026 Constitution extends elected accountability higher
• The 2026 Constitution enshrines self-government at the constitutional level