FEDERAL TERRITORIES AND FEDERAL DISTRICTS: THE CONFUSION OF CONSTITUTIONAL-LEGAL MODELS
The article analizes the forms of territorial organization of public authority, materialized in the form of constitution-legal statuses of federal territories and federal districts. The constitution-legal nature and features inherent in the federal territories are examined on the examples of Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Canada, Venezuela. The article states that the constitution-legal statuses of the federal territories differ among themselves in specific features, but they are united in the main - the existence of a normatively fixed possibility of direct or indirect control by the central authorities. Author notes that in Malaysia, India and Pakistan, the central authorities directly exercise control and governance of the territories. In Canada, the real constitution-legal regime governing the territories is almost identical to the provinces. At the same time, there are significant differences between the Canadian provinces and territories (Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories). Federal districts in foreign countries materialize in the form of a metropolitan region with a special status. Meanwhile, the constitutional-legal nature of the institution of federal districts is not the same. In Brazil and Argentina, the federal districts in practice have the same amount of autonomy as other subnational units. Federal districts in the US and Australia are highly centralized. The analysis shows that with all the existing differences, the territorial organization of public authority in the federal territories and federal districts is characterized by a generalizing feature in the form of reserves under the authority of the central authorities for the management and control of these units. This status has the capitals of states and other domestic entities. Between them, the differences are only in the parameters of the influence of the center and the inherent features of the management regime of the territories, which are determined by different factors of determination.