The colonies instituted local self-government indigenously to confirm the rights resident in their persons and property.

FORBES: Separation Of Church And State Limits Neither Churches Nor States

As such, we might expect it to reflect the spirit, if not the exact letter, of the U.S. Constitution, and thus to be basically a framework for local self-government with limited scope and authority for central government intrusion.

FORBES: Limited Government, Reform, and the Japanese Constitution

They want to be recognized as a self-contained municipality -- something the local government has said will not happen.

CNN: South African town accused of keeping apartheid alive