Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

The author focuses on the link between local government decentralization and democracy in Eastern Europe. It is shown that decentralization is a multidimensional concept and that actual local government systems can be positioned differently on each dimension (functions, control, and finance) depending on the implicit model of local government. Formal and substantive definitions of democracy are distinguished and some conventional measures examined; it is concluded that decentralization and democracy do not necessarily go together. The degree of decentralization and implicit models of postsocialist local government in Eastern Europe are then outlined, with a focus on the contrast between Budapest and Moscow. The development of social movements in the two capitals is taken as an index of substantive democracy and is shown to be influenced not only by the extent of decentralization but also by other features of the local political context. This illustrates the earlier argument that the relation between decentralization and democracy is an empirically variable one rather than a necessary one.

During real-socialism in Central and Eastern Europe the scope for local government discretion was marginal. Local government had a very low degree of legitimacy, and this is something that poses a big problem when it comes to developing local self-government under postsocialism. It seems as if most citizens are prepared to pin their hopes on new central leaders, while they are still very hesitant with regard to local self-governance. Various expressions of localism appeared during the first three to four years of postsocialist development. However, today it seems as if the tide has turned in favour of more centralist hopes and policies. This development is discussed in the light of some of the arguments commonly raised in favour of centralism and localism, respectively, highlighting the complex relationships between the two concepts and their current manifestations. In the concluding section some ideas are put forward concerning the issue how to bridge the gap between centralism and localism, and there is also a reminder that some of the current developments of local government in Eastern and Central Europe are similar to those in Western Europe. This makes a strong argument in favour of intensified transnational contacts between academics, practitioners, and ordinary citizens with an interest in developing local self-government.

Administrative decentralization is the technical side of democratization. Two examples are decentralization in the structure of public administration, and decentralization in provision of local services, which seems to be more complicated, Some type of integration is necessary for ‘real’ administrative decentralization, the purpose of which is to get closer to democratization. However, fragmentation is not a synonym of decentralization. According to my hypothesis the more decentralized a system the more necessary it is to integrate its basic units. There are different forms of integration. The scale is very wide: it varies from amalgamation, to the creation of voluntary associations among municipalities. Administrative decentralization does not exclude public managerial integration in service delivery. In East – Central European countries, parallel to the structural decentralization, different new forms of integration are emerging, simply as a result of the establishment of local institutions in place of former monopolies. This nonadministrative, functional, integration seems to be very important for the development of effectiveness in local democracy.

The development of autonomous local self-governments is a critical, albeit often over-looked, element of the long-term transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. All countries in the region have taken clear steps to pass legislation creating new local government institutions. Such institutional reform is necessary, but not sufficient, for the development of autonomous local self-government. In this paper we present several fundamental criteria which must be satisfied in order to establish and nurture autonomous local self-government. We test these criteria against institutional reforms in Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states to gauge the extent to which there has been actual devolution of governmental responsibility from central to local governments. We conclude that, although some individual strands of these fundamental reforms may have received some attention in the current transition process, such attention is more ad hoc than strategic. As a result, the goal of creating autonomous local self-governments has not been achieved. Donor nations and reform elements in each country must think strategically about all dimensions of this local government transition if these changes are to be institutionalized and the transition is to be successful in the long term.

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.

Local self-governments at gmina (municipality) level have become primary components of Poland's democratization. The establishment of self-governing units in 1990 was the most important achievement of the first period of transformation and a very promising sign for potential political and economic changes in the future. An attitude to local self-governments presented after 1993 by postcommunist parties that came back to power, have not allowed these governments to build the infrastructure essential for the efficient operation of the jurisdiction. It also was impossible to establish the next level of self-governance—powiat (county)—designed as a complementary one to gminas. The second phase of self-government reform has been halted. There is still no clarification of the functional responsibilities between different levels of government and no authorization of revenue sources corresponding to functional responsibilities. These facts have a negative influence on local transformation processes including those of an economic nature. That is why public administration reform is perceived as a very necessary step to continue democratic reforms and to make regions and counties or municipalities well managed and administered. However, reorganisation of central government or the introduction of new levels of self-governing units will not automatically promote local transformation. In order to do so public administration requires complex and deep changes. The starting point for these changes will be a new definition of the state and of central government's roles and responsibilities. If public administration reform is to bring real changes its role must be redefined from the perspective of a decentralized state. The reform should be designed and implemented in such a way that helps to work out transparent and efficient mechanisms of intergovernmental relationships. The reform should also change the position of local government relative to central government. New professional standards as well as training programs for local government employees must be prepared to improve human resources and to overcome bad bureaucratic customs and practices inherited from the communist era.

The author's thesis is; in health systems primarily controlled by the state there is an emphasis on (primary) general care and less on (secondary level) specialised services, both in supply of medical staff and in facilities. The opposite is predicted for health systems with less state control and more room for control by the medical profession. Empirical support is found for this thesis, but it needs to be underlined that this conclusion is preliminary, because much work needs to be done to get more and better data.

The 1990 Environmental Protection Act introduced the requirement for local authorities in the United Kingdom to establish and prepare registers of land that had previously been subjected to a potentially contaminative use. This was met with opposition from a range of interests who articulated concerns about potential blight and the effects upon property development. Amongst these interests were those of local authorities of which the larger ones, it is contended, would have good reason to oppose the introduction of registers because of the fear of their consequential impact on local economic development. In this paper the author appraises the local authority responses to the government's proposals for registers of potentially contaminated land and, following the government's decision to abandon the registers, their views of what policy and legal measures ought to be adopted in their place. The author then considers the extent to which these views have been reflected in the 1995 Environment Act which sought, inter alia, to provide a comprehensive legal and policy framework for the resolution of the location and apportionment of contaminated land liabilities.