Abstract
The study aims to compare the position of Hungarian and Polish mayors in horizontal relations of power, considering the changes taking place in this area over the last few years. The article presents the institutional and legal conditions of local leadership in Hungary and Poland, as well as the role of councils with regard to the executive body. It also describes the systems of election to legislative bodies, which is one of the factors influencing the status of councils and relations within a local authority. The results of the analyses show that there are differences in the positions of Hungarian and Polish mayors and that the relations within local authorities in both countries have been affected by convergent and divergent trends. The study uses the comparative method and an institutional-legal approach, as well as the historical method.
Highlights
The objective of many institutional reforms in the last two to three decades has been to strengthen the role of local executive power over legislative power, and to provide strong, visible, and effective leadership
Based on the classification of leadership models formulated by Mouritzen and Svara, Hubert Heinelt and Nikos Hlepas in 2006 included Poland and Hungary among local government systems with a “strong executive mayor” (Heinelt, Hlepas, 2006, p. 36)
The research by these authors confirmed that Poland and Hungary belong to the group of countries with a strong position of mayors
Summary
The objective of many institutional reforms in the last two to three decades has been to strengthen the role of local executive power over legislative power, and to provide strong, visible, and effective leadership. In 2015, Hubert Heinelt, Nikos Hlepas, Sabine Kuhlmann, and Paweł Swianiewicz recalculated this indicator based on seven different institutional variables (including the method of the mayor’s election, the scope of competence with regard to the legislative body, including chairing the council, the ease of dismissal procedures before the end of a term of office, ensuring the majority of the mayor’s party in a council by electoral law, the independent appointment of the head of the office and other leading officials) The research by these authors confirmed that Poland and Hungary belong to the group of countries with a strong position of mayors. Populism, focusing on consolidating the belief that the interests of citizens are ensured by the central state authorities, questions the entire structure of multi-level governance and contributes to the weakening of the position of local government (Izdebski, 2017, p. 25)
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