Preservation, Upgrade and Loss of Territorial Autonomy – A Study of Internally Self-Governing Territories Since the Early 20th Century

The aim of this monograph dissertation is to shed light on why autonomous territories since the early 20th century to the present day have emerged and why they have experienced different trajectories in terms of preservation, full upgrade and complete loss of their self-governing status. The study includes a number of contemporary and former autonomous territories that differ geographically, economically, demographically, culturally and politically. This paper aims at elaborating on the key explanatory variables that may explain the emergence, durability and dissolution of autonomous territories. Since the analysis will be conducted by means of event history analysis, longitudinal data for each explanatory variable has been collected for each territory’s full period of observation. The explanatory variables have primarily been selected based on theoretical arguments and previous research on the occurrence of secessionism and related processes. The study aims at highlighting a number of explanatory variables that usually give rise to secessions in the form of the birth of autonomous arrangements. Furthermore, it hopes to shed light on how the evolution of these variables may have impacted on the preservation and dissolution of autonomous territories, either by full assimilation into an existing polity or by a second bout of secession resulting in full independence.