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Major Dilemmas and Increasing Dysfunctions of the Polish Local Government Model on the Basis of an Electoral Law and Metropolitan Act

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Major Dilemmas and Increasing Dysfunctions of the Polish Local Government Model on the Basis of an Electoral Law and Metropolitan Act Polish Political Science Yearbook vol. 45 (2016), pp. 219–230 DOI: 10.15804/ppsy.2016017 PL ISSN 0208-7375 Beata Słobodzian University of Gdańsk (Poland) Major Dilemmas and Increasing Dysfunctions of the Polish Local Government Model on the Basis of an Electoral Law and Metropolitan Act Abstract: The right for electing the representatives of authority bodies is one of the fundamentals of democracy. This right entitles citizens for active public par- ticipation through expressing their support (votes) for candidates, which will re- spectively represent their voters in certain institutions. Polish electoral law, which regulates the local self-government elections is very controversial. The existing legal rules were changed many times since 2011. Among the subjects being discussed one can mention electoral campaigns, candidate registration rules and organiza- tion of elections. Frequent changes in the electoral law result in misunderstandings and unwillingness to participate in elections. Their effect is low voter turnout and a large number of invalid votes. To sum up considerations over a political model of large cities, it is worth to indicate that during the last 25 years of operation of Polish local government none of political models of big cities was adopted. Keywords: electoral law; self-local government; metropolis Introduction The restoration of local government (at the level of municipality) in Poland, which took place in 1990, was a crucial political act. Having been assigned multiple social and economic functions, local government achieved a very important position in Pol- ish political system. Therefore, its role was to fulfil public needs as well as to manage public matters at the local level. A creation of the local government ‘from the start position’ demanded intensive conceptual and organizational effort and social engage- ment. The following years of functioning of decentralized system of state reflected 220 Beata Słobodzian its weaknesses and were an incentive for seeking new solutions. In consequence, the public administration reform was implemented (since 1 January 1999). The afore- said act introduced new territorial and administrational units: a county (poviat) and a self-governed voivodship. This change was implemented almost 20 years ago, which was rich of negative and positive experiences. The aim of this article is to analyse the problems of the local elections. It presents the changes in electoral procedures and rules and how Polish ‘metropolises’ function. Its author studied the legal acts and their projects, which are reliable and complete source of information. The Administrative Division of Poland: Controversies over a Metropolis The functionality of local government is strictly associates with the administrative divi- sion of the state. It should be realized in a way, which would improve functionality of the state, its bodies and administration. Therefore, building up appropriate network of specific structures (so-called territorial system) seems to be important in terms of effectiveness of state’s functionality and its safety. In projects of the state’s territorial division many different factors were mentioned, on the basis of which there is a need to build up ‘a territorial fragmentation’. Undoubtedly, a preparation of rational as- sumptions and projects of territorial division is uneasy and time-consuming task. It also demands a cooperation of several institutions involved in this question. A reform of the public administration in years 1998-1999 is still in progress of implementa- tion as its projects were not appropriately prepared and realized. In fact, none of final solutions, which would enable units of a local government to operate rationally, was officially implemented (e.g. a city with the administrative rights of a county). Moreover, assumptions of the above-mentioned reform in years 1998-1999 intro- duced a new and peculiar administrative unit – a city with the administrative rights of a county. The specificity of such units based on inter alia the criteria of selection such cities. Conferring cities rights of counties was not obligatory. As per applicable regulations of the Act on County Government “a city with the administrative rights of a county amounts to more than 100,000 inhabitants as well as since 31 December 1998 has been no longer a seat of a provincial governor’ (Article 91 Paragraph 1). The Polish legislator provided a possibility of a resignation from the status of a city with the administrative rights of a county claiming that ‘at the request of the relevant council of a city, which is no longer a seat of a provincial governor since 31 December 1998, the Council of Ministers shall derogate from conferring this city the status of a city with the administrative rights of a county” (Article 92 Paragraph 2). This regulation was used by three Polish cities: Ciechanów, Piła and Sieradz. Major Dilemmas and Increasing Dysfunctions 221 The main shortcoming of the new-implemented rules of the reform was lack of specification of the regulations regarding the cities with the administrative rights of counties. The legislator failed to specify the newly created local governmental entities. The rather laconic provisions of the Chapter 9 of the Act on Commune Local Government as amended on the day of its entry into force did not clearly regulate the political and functional model. It was assumed that “wherever mention is made of a county (poviat), a city with the administrative rights of a county is intended” (Article 91 Paragraph 5). The role of local governmental bodies was assigned to both, a city council and a council board. In terms of names, a membership and its number as well as terms and conditions of the action of local governmental bodies of a city with the administrative rights of a county subject to the applicable regulations it was ordered to respect the Act of Commune Local Government. The councillors were selected on the basis of the provisions of the Electoral Law regarding municipalities amounting to 20,000 inhabitants. The cities with the administrative rights of counties performed tasks on the basis of the rules mentioned in the Act of Commune Local Government (Article 92 Paragraph 2). One of the final stages of the aforesaid reform of the public administration of 1998 was supposed to be the adoption of the Act on metropolitan and urban areas (Nawrot, 2011, p. 167). Together with the correction of the territorial division at the regional level (the amendment of number of voivodships) an attempt of establishing of the legal and political form of ‘metropolitan areas’ was initiated. Regardless of the multiple attempts, until now organizational and political solutions, which would take into account the specificity of urban areas (metropolitan), have not been generated in Poland. The only exception is the capital of Poland, Warsaw, which was regulated by a separate law, the Act on governance of the city of Warsaw of 15 March 2002. The frequency of amendments of the governmental rules of Warsaw, which take place since 1990, may indicate the necessity of existence a solid and effective management of metropolitan city together with its surrounding. The lack of clear assumptions pertaining to the governmental model of metropolis affected differences between drafts of a final act, inter alia: 1) the Act on Development of Cities, Regional Growth Centres and Metropolitan (hereafter: URM). 2) the Act on Urban Policy and Cooperation of Local Government Units (hereafter: UPM). 3) the Act on the Governance of Metropolitan Areas. 4) the Act on Metropolitan Areas. 5) the Act on the Metropolitan County (hereafter referred as UMR). According to the proposed regulations this differences pertain to inter alia the notion of metropolitan area, which shall be understood as ‘spatially continuous 222 Beata Słobodzian settlement system including at least 1 city with the administrative rights of a county together with surrounding municipalities or rural areas, characterised by its strong functional and spatial relations, including high movement of persons, goods and services as well as an intensive development and a high population density across the area. This are shall include municipalities located within the designated territory, even if they do not perform strong relations with a city with the administrative rights of a county’ (Article 8 Paragraph 1 and 2 of UPM) or ‘a terrain including certain urban agglomeration entirely or partially, which is characterised by an intensive greenfield development and a high population density, a high move- ment of persons and goods as well as a substantial trade in services. It constitutes a spatially continuous settlement complex including at least one metropolis as its centre and a direct surrounding functionally associated to this centre in the form of settlement units of a different size of a urban, suburban or rural character that are located in neighbourhood or are another municipalities’ (Article 9 Paragraph 1 and 2 of URM). On the above-mentioned basis specification of a number and a territorial extent of metropolitan areas differentiates, e.g. creation of 2 metropolitan areas: Warsaw and Upper Silesian (Article 9 Paragraph 1 of UPM) or indication of 12 metropolis: the City of Warsaw, 14 cities with the administrative rights of counties included in Upper Silesian metropolis, Cracow, Łódź, 3 cities with the administrative rights of counties included in Gdańsk metropolis, Wrocław, Poznań, Bydgoszcz and Toruń, Szczecin, Lublin, Białystok and Rzeszów (Article 3 Paragraph 3 of URM). The com- mon feature of both of the projects is a possibility to create the other metropolitan areas (by the Council of Ministers by way of ordinance) amounting to circa 2 million inhabitants or of a population density exceeding 200 inhabitants per 1 km2 (Article 11 of UMR. and Article 10 of UPM). The assumption (mentioned in all the drafts), that metropolitan areas shall not be treated as additional units of the general territorial division of Poland on the basis of the Act of 24 July 1998, a three tier division of administration, appears to be reasonable.
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