Powstanie, rozwój i kryzys koncepcji wójta (burmistrza, prezydenta miasta) jako lokalnego przywódcy

THE EMERGENCE, DEVELOPMENT, AND CRISIS OF CONCEPT OF THE VOIT, MAYOR, AND CITY PRESIDENT AS A LOCAL LEADER

Presented study concentrates on both forming and the crisis of the concept of local leadership in Poland, which concerns voits, mayors, and presidents of cities, directly elected by the citizens – e.g. a local government leaders. Particular attention was paid to legal and political mechanisms of their elections and political (democratic) responsibility towards the citizens. In these mechanisms, the factors were detected, which substantially weaken social trustworthiness of the role of the leader. Among them: particularly low rate of voting turnout in both local elections and referenda concerning deposition from appointments listed above and various manipulations distorting the true picture of public in these matters. Concept of a local leader in Poland has met very serious difficulties in practice and seems to be not attractive to the community.