Dwukadencyjność organów wykonawczych w gminach – ograniczenie praw obywatelskich czy ograniczenie zjawisk patologicznych?

Abstract

The phenomenon of multiterm mayors has become widespread in Poland, especially after introducing the direct election of the executive in municipalities in 2002. The direct election has given the mayors the dominant position in local politics. The way to limit it has seemed to be the limitation of number of terms in office of the municipal executive bodies to two. In the presented paper the arguments of opponents and supporters of this solution were analyzed. The analysis was made from the perspective of two levels: institutional- legal and socio-political. The aim of the analysis is to show the positives and negatives of the implemented change and the projected effects. The legal basis, its compliance with the constitution and the implications for the active and passive suffrage were analyzed. Also the results for local political systems and for local communities were examined, and it was confronted with the issue of political culture.