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THE LOCAL PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY IN POLAND

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Introduction

The two phases of Poland: Communism

Local authorities had no autonomy Towards democracy

Local Autonomy Act, 8th March 1990Warsaw Declaration, 27th June 2001European Charter of Local Self-Government

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Poland – some figures…

Population: 39 Millions

Surface: 312 000 km²

Administrative system:- Voivodship (16)- Powiat (314)- Gmina (2478)

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Presentation

Gmina (2478 communities) The most decentralized administrative unit Run by a deliberative assembly and an executive committee which is run by the mayor The mayor is called wójt in rural communities, burmistrz in urban communities and prezydent

miasta in cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants.

Powiat (379 districts) An administrative unit that has approximately 100 000 inhabitants 65 Polish cities hold simultaneously the duties of the communities and the districts, amounting to

a total of 379; seven new powiaty were added in March 2002 The Powiat is run by a Powait council (zarząd powiatu) and an executive committee which is run

by a president (starosta).

Voivodeship (16 regions) The biggest Polish administrative unit Its administrative structure is divided into a legislative body (sejmik wojewódzki) and an

executive body (zarząd wojewódzki). A marshal is at the head of the executive body.

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The problem

What is the plan of action to enable Polish citizens to participate in the

management of local affairs?

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The participation plan at the local level

- Local referenda

- City councils

- The Fund for Subsidies of the City of Plock

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The local referendum

11th October 1991 Act:

- organisers

- values

- objectives

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Example: Referendum in the Bialystock region, organised in May 2007

Requested by the local elected members and by the Premier Minister Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI

The question addressed to the people:

Do you approve of the construction of a bypass between the City of Augustow and the

Via Baltica motorway?

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The City Council 

Its election Its powers Which council for which city?

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The fund for subsidies of the City of Plock

In 2002, the first participative forum in Poland had been launched. It lasted six months and has led to the setting up of a fund for subsidies: The fund for Subsidies of the City of Plock.

Two levels of participation:

1) The participative forumThe signature of an agreement between the mayor of Plock, the local company PKN

ORLEN, the UNDP and the associative sector signify the beginning of the “Plock Forum“.

o      80 people (the proportion is equally allotted among the different partners)o      The objective is to set up a coherent sustainable development programme. o      There is no individual participation. The inhabitants have to unit and form

communities. o      The participants are appointed by the mayor.

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2)     The fund for subsidiesforms a multi-sector partnership: the public sector, companies and the

associative sector.

Objective:

allocating subsidies to local projects.

Features:

o     direct participation

o   the steering committees have a dominating role

o access to the steering committee

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Conclusion

Obstacles: This presentation doesn’t claim to be exhaustive since it

was difficult to find all laws. The language barrier makes it difficult to understand the

documents.

Strenghts: The Polish community in the North is important = an

interesting perspective to undertake a long-term research project (for example interviews or testimony)

Poland is shaped like the French model = it would be interesting to draw a French-Polish comparison about the development of these two local participative democracies.