Polish Local Leaders and Fulfilling Community Needs

Abstract

This article aims at an assessment of the role played by the local leaders in Poland, the characteristic feature of the Polish politico-economic systems having a high degree of centralization. According to the basic principles of the system, the interests of the local communities and of particular local organizations are supposed to be subordinated to the national interests. On the basis of an empirical study in six medium-sized towns, it is shown that local leaders are partially able to overcome the limitation with which they are confronted. The system of vertical subordination is counterbalanced by a network of mutual contacts between the leaders in the community. This horizontal integration helps to pool the resources of the various organizations of the community and enables the leaders to pursue local interests and autonomously work out local policies.