Into the Mainstream: Local Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

When the newly liberated countries of Central and Eastern Europe created, as one of their first actions, genuinely elected local government, they were reacting against the centralisation of communist rule. They were also asserting a European identity, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, in a system of multi-level governance. This article explores these themes, discussing the provision of services (the delivery of the welfare state), the governance of cities, the tax base, and the issues of scale where there is an immediate potential conflict between the right of the smallest communities to elect their own councils and the need for economies of scale in service delivery. It concludes that, while the future of democratic local government is far from inevitable, there is much that other countries can-and perhaps need to-learn from these recent experiences in Central and Eastern Europe.