Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
AnthonyLevitas
InthefollowingIproceedinfoursteps.First,
Ioutlinethereform’smoststrikingachievements
inordertoestablishthatsomethingexceptional
hastakenplaceinPolandandthatlittleofithasto
dowitheitherfiscalfederalism’srulesorpopular
engagement.Second,Iexaminehowthearchitects
ofthereformsunderstooddecentralisationandhow
thisunderstandinginformedtheinstitutionsthey
created.Third,Iillustratehowtheseinstitutions
workedtofosternewprofessionalnorms,promote
horizontalaccountabilityandfacilitatethecontinuous
adjustmentofintergovernmentalrelations.Finally,
IdiscussthosefeaturesofthePolishcasethatmay
beusefulwhenconsidering“decentralisation”
inotherpost-authoritariancontexts.
Polandasadecentralisedpolity
DecentralisationinPolandwascarriedoutintwo
phases,thefirstin1990andthesecondin1999.
InMarch1990,thenationalgovernmentpassed
theLawonLocalGovernment(LLG)andinMay
heldelectionsforapproximately2500municipal
andcommunalgovernmentscalledGminas(Sejm
1990).TheLLGmadeGminasresponsiblefor
allthebasalmetabolicfunctionsofurbanlife,1
aswellasforpreschoolandprimaryeducation,
ambulatoryhealthcareandsomewelfareservices.
Between1993and1997effortstocreate
asecondtierofcountygovernmentsfaltered.In
1998,however,Solidarity-affiliatedpartiesretook
parliamentandwithinayearcompletedwhatis
knownastheSecondPhaseofdecentralisation
(Sejm1998).Inruralareas,314county-level
governmentswerecreated(PowiatZiemski,
RuralCounties).whilethe66largestcitieswere
madeCitieswithCountyRights(MiastonaPra-
wachPowiatu,LargeCities).RuralCountiesand
LargeCitieswereassignedresponsibilityfor
secondaryeducation,county-leveltransportand
themaintenanceofhospitalfacilities.
1
Watersupply,sewage-treatment,stormdrainage,
solid-wastedisposal,spatialplanning,publiclightingand
themaintenanceandimprovementoflocalroads,bridges,
waterways,parks,museumsandlibraries.
Forty-ninewojewództwawerealsoconsolidated
into16democratically-electedregionalgovern-
ments.These“Self-GoverningRegions”co-
ordinatedevelopmentplanningandhavesome
infrastructureresponsibilities,butdeliveralmost
noday-to-daypublicservices.They“co-habit”
with16deconcentratedunitsofthenational
governmentwhichrunthepolice,courtsand
anumberofinspectorates.Buttheyplayalimited
roleinplanninganddelivernootherpublicservices.
DespitethecreationofRuralCountiesand
Self-GoverningRegions,themostimportantlevel
ofsubnationalgovernmentremainsmunicipal.
GminasandLargeCitiescontroltwothirdsofall
subnationalexpenditure(Figure1)anddelivermost
localservices.Theyarefinanciallyindependent
ofRuralCountiesandSelf-GoverningRegions,and
receivetheirtransfersdirectlyfromthestatebudget.
2
Polishdecentralisationisthusbestunderstoodas
deep“municipalisation”withinaunitarystate,
withthe66LargeCitiesconstitutingthebackbone
ofthesystem.
Figure2showssubnationalexpendituresas
ashareofGDPandoftotalpublicexpendituresfor
thecountriesthathavejoinedtheEUsince2004,
aswellasforthoseEuropeancountriesinwhich
subnationalgovernmentscontrolahighershare
ofexpenditurethantheirPolishcounterparts.Polish
subnationalgovernmentsplayasubstantiallylarger
rolethanthoseinothernewEUMemberStates(and
amuchgreaterrolethanthoseinSouth-EastEurope)
(NALAS,2015).OnlyintheNetherlands,Europe’s
federations,andtheunitarystatesofScandinavia
dosubnationalgovernmentscontrolalargershare
ofthepublicpurse.So,Polandisnotonlythemost
decentralisedpost-communistcountryinEurope,but
oneofEurope’smoredecentralisedunitarystates.
AllPolishsubnationalgovernmentsdepend
heavilyonnationalgovernmenttransfersand
onlyLargeCitiesderivemorethan35%oftheir
2Self-GoverningRegionshavesubstantialrespon-
sibilitiesforplanningandallocatingEUfunds.Thiscreates
somefinancialdependencyoflowerlevelgovernments
onthem,butitisindirectandlimited.
8
ZarządzaniePubliczne/PublicGovernance3(45)/2018
