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The re‐emergence of local self‐government in Central Europe
Author(s) -
ELANDER INGEMAR,
GUSTAFSSON MATTIAS
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1993.tb00361.x
Subject(s) - democratization , politics , local government , state (computer science) , political economy , political science , central government , socialism , government (linguistics) , economic system , state socialism , political system , democracy , public administration , economics , capitalism , law , communism , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , computer science
. In the current transitional period in Central Europe two issues have been commonly regarded as outstanding: the democratization of national political systems and the transformation of national economies into capitalist ones. However, in the long run, the reintroduction of local self‐government may be even more decisive when it comes to the stabilization of the post‐socialist societies. Firstly arguing that local self‐government is a crucial link between state and civil society, the paper goes on to review the local government system during socialism. This is followed by overviews of attempts to change this system in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. A number of hopes and fears associated with this development are highlighted, then the concluding section discusses the gains to be made for comparative political research by considering the local governments of Central Europe.