Harald Baldersheim - Local Democracy and the Processes of Transformation in East-Central Europe

Edited by
Harald Baldersheim,
Michal Illner,
Audun Offerdal,
Lawrence Rose, and
Pawe Swianiewicz

First published 1996 by Westview Press

Published 2018 by Routledge
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Copyright 1996 by Taylor & Francis

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Local democracy and the processes of transformation in East-Central
Europe / edited by Harald Baldersheim, Michal Illner, Audun
Offerdal, Lawrence Rose, and Pawe Swianiewicz.
p. cm. (Urban policy challenges)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-8968-2
1. Local governmentEurope, Eastern. 2. Political culture
Europe, Eastern. 3. Europe, EasternPolitics and
government1989 . 4. Post-communismEurope, Eastern.
5. Institution building. I. Baldersheim, Harald, 1944
II. Series.
JS3000.2.L627 1996
352.047dc20 95-50930
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-01440-7 (hbk)

Harold Baldersheim is a professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, and an associate of the Norwegian Centre for Research in Organization and Management, Bergen.

Gejza Blaas is Director of the Institute of Agricultural Economics, Bratislava.

Beba Bodnrov works in the Ministry for Social Affairs, Bratislava.

Stanislav Buchta is a research associate of the the Institute of Agricultural Economics, Bratislava.

Terry N. Clark is a professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Chicago.

Gyrgy Gajduschek is a research associate of the Hungarian Institute of Public Administration, Budapest.

Mirosaw Grochowski is an assistant professor at the European Institute for Regional and Local Development, University of Warsaw.

Daniel Hanpach is a research associate of the Institute of Sociology, the Czech Academy of Science, Prague.

Tams M. Horvth is a research associate of the Hungarian Institute of Public Administration, Budapest.

Ondej Hubek is an associate professor at the Department of Cultural Studies, Charles University, Prague.

Michal Illner is Director of the Institute of Sociology, the Czech Academy of Science, Prague.

Andrzej Kowalczyk is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw.

Audun Offerdal is a professor at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen.

Ji Patoka is Director of the Centre for Public Administration and Regional Sciences at the University of Economics, Prague.

Gbor Pteri is a research associate of the Hungarian Institute of Public Administration, Budapest.

Lawrence Rose is a professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo.

Pawe Swianiewicz is Field Programme Manager for the British Know-How Fund Poland. Warsaw.

Zdenka Vajdov is a research associate of the Institute of Sociology, the Czech Academy of Science, Prague.

The idea to start the project reported here emerged during a workshop of The Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Study organized in Warsaw in April 1990 as a meeting ground for scholars from East and West interested in the study of local democracy. The new project was launched under the title Local Democracy and Innovation with the intention of studying what we believed were neglected but important aspects of the socio-political transformations: the implementation of local government reforms in the post-communist environments of Hungary, Poland and (still existing) Czechoslovakia. The project began as a joint venture between scholars from Nordic and East-Central European research institutions but was quickly integrated into wider international research programs under the auspices of the International Political Science Association and the International Sociological Association. Vital support in this respect was provided by the presidents of IPSA's Research Committee on Comparative Studies on Local Government and Politics and of ISA's Community Studies Group, professor Hellmut Wollmann and professor Terry N. Clark respectively. The field work was carried out by research teams located in Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw in cooperation with a group of Norwegian researchers. The original project participants are largely identical with the contributors to this volume. The project was generously funded by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry under the administration of the Norwegian Research Council. The assistance and support of both institutions are gratefully acknowledged. Administrative and logistical support has also been provided by the Norwegian Center for Research in Organization and Management and its director, Terje Steen Edvardsen, at several vital stages of the project, including the hosting of several project workshops. The production of the manuscript owes everything to the dedication of Elizabeth Tufta and Mette Bjelland. Wisa Suraska has aided in preparing the map of East-Central Europe. Finally, John G. Taylor, M.Sc. (Econ,), provided valuable editorial advice and help in improving the authors' English.

Harald Baldersheim

indicating capital cities and location of research communities

Harald Baldersheim and Michal Illner

The fall of communism in Eastern Europe did not lead to 'the end of history' (Fukuyama 1989), but inaugurated instead a series of new dramas and traumas of national transitions and international realignments, the outcomes of which are not easily predictable (Dahrendorf 1990). The subject matter of this book is one particular aspect of these post-communist transformations, the implementation of local government reforms in the East-Central European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). However, the study of this aspect of reform opens up a window into the core aspirations of the new regimespolitical pluralism and market efficiency. Democratic local government is instrumental for both aspirations. Local government brings democratic opportunities and practices closer to the citizens and also stimulates the efficiency in public administration that is vital for a well-functioning market. Consequently, the ability to make local democracy work gauges the capacity of the new regimes to carry through the self-transformations they have embarked upon.