Challenging Citizens: Democratic Innovations at the Local Level

The book aims to complement the existing research on democratic innovations mainly by making unique comparative analyses of the democratic innovations at the local level in selected European post-communist countries, i.e. the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Democratic innovations can help overcome political apathy, decreased confidence in democracy and improve efficiency of governance. We traditionally consider cities and municipalities to be cradles of democracy and connect them with deliberations on the further development of democratic theory and political practice. We therefore argue that the local level is a suitable arena and laboratory for both changes of institutional settings within the traditional model of representative democracy, and the structural changes, which concern changing relations between local representatives and citizens.

Covers democratic innovations at the level of municipalities with extended authority in the Czech Republic Offers unique comparative analyses of democratic innovations at local level in three post-communist countries Based on statistical results, the book argues that the local level is a suitable arena for democratic innovations

Autorentext
Pavel Saradín is Associate professor in the Department of Politics and European Studies at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Hana Hurtíková is Researcher in the Department of Political Science and European Studies, at the Faculty of Arts, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Michal Soukop is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Politics and European Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Markéta Zapletalová is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and European Studies, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Democratic Innovations.- 3. Reforms and Political Participation.- 4. Democratic innovations in three countries- 5. Program Local Agenda 21 and Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic association: Testing the causality between HCCZ membership and implementation of selected democratic innovation (GIS).- 6. Political and economic characteristics of municipalities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Role of municipal dynamics and support resources in implementation of democratic innovations.- 7. Innovative and Interactive Political Communication at the Local Level? Experience from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.- 8. Participatory budgeting in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.- 9. Participatory Budgets in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia: Experience from Three Towns. 10. Conclusion.