The author argues that in Poland the 1989 commitment to political and administrative decentralization has weakened over the last seven years and has resulted in (re)centralizing tendencies. It is argued that the center's interest in gaining short-term political successes rather than engaging in long-term reforms fostered the retention of past centralized practices and the emergence of new (re)centralizing tendencies. This has been accomplished by the central state through application of three sets of forces: (1) fiscal, (2) political, and (3) systemic (preservation of the past). The first part of the paper lays out a theoretical framework for analysis of pressures and barriers to decentralization and (re)centralization. The second is an examination of the process of implementation in Poland, of local government and public administration reform over the period 1989–96. The third is an examination of (re)centralization processes in the context of political and fiscal forces as well as the inability of the center to reform itself and terminate the legacy of the past system in its multidimensional form (legal, institutional, territorial). The author concludes by asserting that, although clear (re)centralizing tendencies can be identified, Polish (re)centralization is characterized by the duality of the struggle: to move forward with the reforms and to dismantle the remnants of the past centralized system. Therefore, although Polish (re)centralization may appear similar in form, it differs in terms of causes from countries that are not subject to political and economic restructuring.
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