Reforming local government. Heading for efficiency and democracy

Abstract

During the last decades European political systems have been contested in many ways. While the post-communist countries had to implement completely new structures in order to cope with market economy and citizen integration in political decision-making processes, the “old” democracies had to get along with severe economic constraints and the danger of growing political apathy. In order to cope with these problems challenging the input- and output-legitimacy of the democratic systems in general, the local level is often used as a playing ground and laboratory for reform. Being closest to the citizens, local governments are seen to be in a far better position than any other level of the state to adjust its actions to the needs of the citizens. Thereby the local level is in an extraordinary position to first guarantee an efficient and effective delivery of public services and second to integrate citizens into the democratic decision-making process. It is rather obvious, therefore, that facing the two threats mentioned, local government reforms in order to promote the goals of efficiency and democracy are major topics in all countries under investigation. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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