How Do Local Party Systems Change after the Direct Election of Mayors? Analysis of the Institutional Reform in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

The Lithuanian parliament in 2015 amended the electoral system of local elections by introducing direct election of mayors. The reform was intended to increase the accountability of mayors, to stabilize mayoral terms, and to encourage higher turnouts in local elections. We find that these aims were achieved partially. First, we observe reduced electoral fragmentation, increase in the vote shares of independent candidates, and a higher number of independent politicians elected to mayoral posts. Second, although the reelection rates of mayors increased, stability of local coalitions did not change much. Finally, the reform did not increase turnouts significantly.

Disclosure Statement

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

Notes

1. We identified majorities without formal agreement according to at least one of three criteria. First, we treat a political group as part of majority if it holds any of the following posts: vice mayor, director of administration, or deputy director of administration. Second, mayors have officially published reports of their activities since 2015. If a political group was mentioned in these reports as part of majority, we treat it as such. Third, some municipalities publish accounts of their majorities in their official webpages. If a political group was mentioned in such an account, we treat it as part of the majority in the council.