The multiple faces of recentralization: A typology of central-local interactions

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to provide a conceptual framework and a methodological apparatus for investigating conflicts between central and local governments. Our work is inspired by contemporary recentralization processes seen in Europe, which are motivated both pragmatically (to counteract the financial crisis) and ideologically (the “illiberal turn”). These phenomena refer to the broader concept of conflict of interest, which is at the core of democratic systems. We see the limiting the autonomy of substatal actors as a sign of democratic crisis. Although our study draws upon empirical phenomena observed in Poland, its ambition is to provide a universal framework to analyze central-local relations. By combining the theoretical distinction between different dimensions of the political universum, with the easy-to-operationalize variables that make up the Local Autonomy Index our paper proposes two typologies to capture, respectively, centralistic actions, and local governments’ reactions. These typologies can be used to map the patterns of central-local relations in particular countries, and facilitate comparative studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Recentralization
• central-local relations
• local autonomy
• local government
• large cities
• political emancipation of cities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Spain is a classic example of incremental recentralization, introduced in response to the fiscal crisis of the late 2000s. The Spanish regions (especially Catalonia) accused the central government of hiding actual recentralization behind euphemisms such as “harmonization” and “rationalization” (Muro, 2015). In Italy, the media often attributed rising public debt to out-of-control spending by local and regional entities, and expensive multi-level coordination processes. This allowed the central government to regain power over the flow of funds and eliminate some local taxes (e.g., local property tax). In Greece, which was already one of the most centralist EU states, the government adopted several new fiscal control measures in response to the financial crisis. This unprecedented centralization led local government associations to (unsuccessfully) challenge the new law in court (Hlepas, 2016).

2. For example, the Ministry of the Environment has organized, amongst other things, a billboard campaign saying that increased waste collection costs are the result of poor management at the municipal level.

3. The “21 demands” format refers directly to the original document of the same name prepared in 1980 by protesting workers in the Gdańsk shipyard during the Solidarity strike against the communist government.

4. Although, in general, this is a state competence, LGs can (and some did) help refugees (see Gazeta Prawna, 2017).

5. Own elaboration based on data collected by siecobywatelska.pl.

Additional information

Funding

The article was financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, under research project “In search of the (new) power balance: study on the state—cities relations in Poland,” project number [UMO-2020/37/B/HS5/02138].

Notes on contributors

Wirginia Aksztejn

Wirginia Aksztejn is a research assistant at the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, Department of Local Development and Policy, and a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences, University of Warsaw. In 2005 she graduated from the Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw. She has 17 years of experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research. Her scientific interests are focused on local government, local development, spatial inequalities, central-local relations. In her dissertation she investigates territorial cohesion at the micro, inter- and intra-municipal level. She has participated in research projects funded by the National Science Centre, Poland and Polish-German Foundation for Science. She was the Polish team leader in a Horizon 2020 project: COHSMO: Inequality, Urbanization and Territorial Cohesion: Developing the European Social Model of Economic Growth and Democratic Capacity. Her work has also been published in Social Inclusion, Rozwój Regionalny i Polityka Regionalna, Decyzje.

Marta Lackowska

Marta Lackowska is a professor at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, Department of Local Development and Policy. Between 2008 and 2010 she held a post of a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Darmstadt University of Technology (Germany). Her scientific interests are focused on local government and governance, and include: intermunicipal and territorial cooperation, metropolitan governance, multi-level governance, Europeanisation, urban politics, territorial identity, theories of organisation and management, and local—central relations (currently she leads a project on city—state relations under the realm of recentralisation). Her research has been funded by the National Science Center, Poland. She is a board member of European Urban Research Association. Her work has also been published in Local Government Studies, European Urban and Regional Studies, Lex Localis, and Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences.

Joanna Krukowska

Joanna Krukowska is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Local Development and Policy, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw. Her research interests are local and regional development policy, democracy, and local leadership. She has been working at the Ministry of Regional Development, in the media, and for NGOs oriented on civic involvement and local bottom-up initiatives. Joanna has participated in many international and national research projects focused on local and regional policies. In 2022-2024 she is the PI of the Polish team in the framework of an international consortium conducting an innovative research project CONTRA—Conflict in Transformations. The project is co-financed by Horizon 2020 and the National Science Centre, Poland.

Łukasz Mikuła

Łukasz Mikuła is a professor at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Human Geography and Planning. His research interests cover local government, public administration, spatial and strategic planning, metropolitan governance. He was a member of research teams in international (COST Action, Horizon 2020) and national (National Centre of Research and Development, National Science Centre, Poland) projects. His work has also been published in Regional Studies, International Review of Administrative Science and International Planning Studies. He is a chairman of Spatial Planning and Urban Regeneration Committee of Poznań City Council and a chairman of Metropolitan Planning Commission for the Poznań Metropolis.