Institutional and legal conditions of local elections in Ukraine in 2015

In this article the author analyzes the institutional and legal conditions of local “government” elections in Ukraine in 2015. Special attention is given to the determinants of formal elections to local government bodies. Indicates the specific nature of the local elections in 2015 (up today). The local elections in Ukraine in 2015 were held under the conditions of reforming local self-government. The main goal of the reform is the socalled decentralization. Local government reforms ensure the creation of associations of territorial communities of villages (cities, settlements). For the first time in the elections they took part association of territorial communities. In addition, the Ukrainian authorities have failed to conduct elections on the entire territory of the country. No votes were cast in Autonomous Republic of Crimea, due to the annexation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation in 2014. Elections to local self-government bodies were also not carried out in part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, due to the ongoing armed conflict in Donbass since 2014.

Selected forms of international cooperation in the development policy of the City of Gdynia

The article describes several forms of international cooperation in Gdynia. It shows its influence on the development and promotion of the city in last years.

Russian system of local government

Local democracy and local government are popular terms and they are playing as the most important dimensions in the viability of any modern democracy. Alexis Tocqueville, who wrote a major book about democracy, considered local government as the mainstay of local democracy. He also saw local democracy as a school of political education and a safety valve of democracy for the entire nation. Most of the European countries have attempted to incorporate these concepts into their political and development process. In article author analyses the role of local government in Russian political system. Objective of the article is to identify and characterize the main stages of development of local self-government in Russia.

Youth councils and their participation on the decision-making process on a local level in Poland

Youth Councils in Poland have been operating since 2001. According to the Act on commune self-government, these councils are consultative entities whose purpose is, inter alia, giving opinions on normative acts issued by local government bodies. The article presents the results of research carried out as part of the project ‘From dialogue to deliberation. Non-public entities as (not) present participant in the local decision-making process’. The research covered Youth Councils and the participation of these entities in the decision-making process at the local level in Poland.