Samenvatting

According to various authors, Dutch local autonomy is under pressure. Because of the many tasks transferred to municipalities, local authorities hardly have time for their own tasks and initiatives. Local autonomy requires that local administrators have sufficient time, attention, and money. In this article, the concept of local autonomy is discussed, as well as why local autonomy is under pressure and who is responsible for (a sufficient amount of) local autonomy. In general, local autonomy is the responsibility of both national as well as local politicians and administrators, but on both levels, there is still much room for improvement.