0000000000213970
AUTHOR
Iveta Reinholde
Urban Governance in Latvia: Feeling Urban and Thinking Rural
Urbanisation is affecting not only countries with high number of residents but also with small number. The aim of the research is to explore urbanisation and shrinking city tendencies in a country with small number of residents in the context of globalization and urbanisation. The “donut effect” will be explored in the capital city Riga and ten municipalities nearby. The main research question is to what extent can the classical understanding and perception of urbanisation be applied to small societies and countries, and what kind of effects does the urbanisation create in such dynamically developing countries. There are several interdependent problems, such as the new patterns of urban–rur…
Local State-Society Relations in Latvia
The Latvian case of local state-society relations includes an analysis of local action groups, public councils, and advisory councils. Concerning these networks, the intensity and dynamics of interaction between the local state and society in Latvia and the locally induced variation between cities and rural areas are explored. The autonomy, the coherence, and the relevance of the analyzed networks are medium and high, and they are labeled accordingly as consociational or collaborative.
Democracy and Governance in Public Services: The Case of Residential Care in Lithuania
Prijelaz u 21. stoljeće obilježio je uspon formalne demokracije u Litvi. Klasična demokracija koju se uglavnom poima putem izbora i sudjelovanja građana u političkim procesima proširila se na više instrumenata i na više razina. Građani sada aktivno sudjeluju u odlučivanju na svim razinama: na makro razini kao dio izbornog tijela, kao i na mikro razini kao korisnici javnih usluga. Cilj je ovog rada analizirati proces demokratizacije u Litvi iz perspektive rezidencijalne skrbi i sudjelovanja njezinih korisnika. Empirijski dio rada donosi analizu rezultata sociološkog istraživanja o institucijama rezidencijalne skrbi koja pokazuje koliki je značaj sudjelovanja i osnaživanja u organiziranju soc…
Mayors in the Town Hall: Patterns of Relations and Conflict Among Municipal Actors
The chapter explores the way in which local actors interrelate with each other and the environment surrounding them. For doing so, it analyses the balance of power among municipal actors in European town halls and to what extent these relationships are characterised either by consensus or by conflict. The findings confirm the existence of differences among types of government, confirming the validity of the Mourtizen–Svara’s typology to capture the division of functions at the apex of local leadership forms of local government. When analysing the level of conflict, other factors such as the level of local autonomy in the political system, the municipality’s economic situation or the mayor’s…
“Parallel reforms and double efforts”: Latvia`s experience reforming administration
The public administration reform process in Latvia from the beginning of the 1990s was separated into two parts - national administrative reform and administrative territorial reform – both with their own unique goals and implementation mechanisms. The divided coordination and management of the reforms have resulted in the two administrative subsystems. The paper’s aim is to explore the links between reforms in the national level and local level after 2004 by analyzing the main reform documents determining all reform activities at that time. The results will demonstrate the complexity of the reform management process, as the coordination of reforms is essential regarding all of its levels a…
Hidden costs of cuts: austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis
The implementation of austerity measures presents a dilemma for governments. While austerity measures such as cutbacks aim to reduce costs and enhance public sector efficiency, the same measures might undermine the motivation of employees and, consequently, the prospects of effectively implementing austerity programmes. Based on a survey of ministerial officials in Poland and Latvia, this article finds that the scale of cutbacks explains a larger decline of staff motivation in Latvia than in Poland. The article further shows that motivation was more likely to decrease after the crisis if austerity measures involved cutbacks such as staff reductions, recruitment freezes, and a reduction of t…
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CITIZENS’ TRUST IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
The article analyses the relationship between citizens’ trust in local government institutions and participation in local governance. The research results have revealed that citizens’ trust in local government is still low and participation lacks activeness. Civic participation is more active than political participation. According to the research results, the main reasons of absence of participation in local governance are lack of information and knowledge about public participation, lack of information about participation opportunities, lack of communication and response to expressed opinion and suggestions. The results of quantitative research showed that participation and trust dimensio…
Urban transport policy transfer in central and Eastern Europe
Abstract European Territorial Cooperation is one important context in which partners from across the whole of Europe meet and learn from each other. Naturally, the involvement of partners from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in this process is increasing as a consequence of the expansion of Europe, particularly the accession of ten new EU member states in 2004, and two more in 2007. Various examples can be found where CEE countries are seeking to catch up politically and economically by drawing lessons from policies in more developed countries. The uncertainties of policy-making in some of these countries have made policy transfer a particularly attractive option, as politician…