Suchergebnisse

The Influence of the Twinning on the Political Culture of Urban Elites on Borderland of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine (research concept)
Urban elite political culture can be understood as meanings, symbols and values which determine the types of political activities in the field of political power. It is shaped by many factors, among which worth mentioning are contemporary transnational relations. An interesting form of this relationship is a partnership of cities (twinning). The paper proposes the concept of the research on this factor's impact on the political culture of the elites in the partner cities of Central Europe, situated on the border of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine. Research is based on the Victor Turner concept of social field. Knowledge gained as a result of this research can help to understand and explain how political culture of local elitesin this region evolve. Stress will be placed on continuity, autonomy, variety and affinities between different local political cultures. At the end current state of the relations between these political cultures will described and evaluated to give also prognosis for the future cooperation between them.

This article comprises a sketch of the most important perspectives on local government. Among other things, it also aims to present the unique nature of government at the mezzo-social level. Here the concepts of political governing are considered as a social relationship and social resource; proposed, too, is the application of the category of the social field in the analysis of local government. Such social fields are characterized by both relations and resources associated with power when viewed from the standpoint of actions and structures. A separate aspect making itself known in the field of political power is its manifestations and influences.

The article studies cross-border cooperation of local self-governments as an instrument of local public policies. The article is based on an analysis of all identified cases of real cooperation projects of communes and poviats of Małopolska, Podkarpacie and the eastern part of Silesia from the period of 2004-2015. The research suggests that an intensive cross-border cooperation correlates with a strategic approach to international cooperation on the part of communes and those local governments that are able to use international projects to achieve their policy goals have more projects, versatile partners, and different areas of cooperation. Other local governments perceive international cooperation as beneficial but marginal to their core activities which presses them to focus on projects from the area of culture and to choose geographically close partners. Human and institutional resources seem to be crucial for the cross-border cooperation and, as a consequence, urban local governments are much more eager to cooperate than rural communes. ; Artykuł jest próbą spojrzenia na współpracę międzynarodową samorządów lokalnych jako na narzędzie realizacji lokalnych polityk publicznych. Analiza wszystkich zidentyfikowanych przypadków realnej współpracy gmin i powiatów Małopolski, Podkarpacia i wschodnich powiatów Śląska z okresu 2004-2015 dowodzi, że intensywną współpracę transgraniczną prowadzą te gminy, które potrafią używać projektów międzynarodowych strategicznie, jako narzędzia osiągania celów politycznych. Poza tą grupą samorządów postrzeganie współpracy międzynarodowej jako aktywności przynoszącej korzyści, ale całkowicie marginalnej w stosunku do codziennej pracy gmin i powiatów popycha w kierunku skupienia się na współpracy w dziedzinie kultury. Ograniczone zasoby własne samorządów powodują, że podstawowym kryterium atrakcyjności partnera jest bliskość geograficzna. Kluczowe znaczenie w prowadzeniu współpracy międzynarodowej mają zasoby instytucjonalne i kadrowe, co powoduje, że miasta dużo chętniej podejmują współpracę niż gminy wiejskie.