W artykule scharakteryzowano wykorzystywane przez gminy narzędzia komunikowania z mieszkańcami. Podstawą do przygotowania artykułu były badania jakościowe (wywiady pogłębione) i ilościowe (wybrane pytanie z kwestionariusza ankiety) przeprowadzone w wyodrębnionej grupie gmin z koabitacją w kadencji 2014-2018. Celem artykułu jest wskazanie czy i jakiego rodzaju narzędzia komunikowania z mieszkańcami stosują władze gminy? Jaka jest skuteczność tych narzędzi? Czy rodzaj koabitacji: konfliktowa vs. pokojowa ma wpływ na sposób informowania mieszkańców? Jak wprowadzone w styczniu 2018 zmiany w prawie samorządowym (których celem było m.in. zwiększenie transparentności funkcjonowania władz samorządowych) wpłyną na sposób komunikowania się władz z mieszkańcami?

In the present legal state, the mayor is an important political leader in Polish municipalities. On account of being elected in direct elections and enjoying a broad range of powers, he/she is a natural local leader. Another municipal authority is the council, which fulfills decision-making and supervisory functions. Whether the mayor can effectively act depends on the outcome of elections and, in consequence, the council’s composition. Elections may lead to the phenomenon of cohabitation. This occurs when the mayor does not have the support of an absolute majority in the council or represents the opposite political camp to the members of the municipal council. Taking into account 1,737 questionnaires and 74 interviews, it turns out that mayors do not operate in a political and administrative vacuum. Even if they make decisions on their own, they need internal (councilors, local government employees) and external (entrepreneurs, representatives of NGOs, the Catholic Church, political parties) help.

Pathologies and abuses accompany elections and are connected with the electoral system both in its narrow and broad sense. Moreover, they stem from a human nature and a degree of democratic principles consolidation. Cohabitation is conditioned by the electoral system and, in the case of the proportional allocation of seats, it arises more often than in the majority system with single member constituencies. The phenomenon itself is not always pathological. However, such an adverse situation develops when it comes to clashes, neither substantive nor creative, between the municipal bodies and, in consequence, the interests of the local community are jeopardised. Elections at the municipal level are also accompanied by other pathologies and abuses including: coercing votes when voting by proxy, adding voters to an electoral roll, bringing residents to a polling place, paying for one's votes, preying on the naïvety of voters which can take grotesque forms or brutalising an election campaign caused by the mediatisation of local policy. The above-mentioned phenomena were examined and presented in the paper based on the analysis of statistical data, articles from the local press and, most essentially for the discussed subject, a rich material collected thanks to the in-depth interviews conducted by the authors.

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The main aim of this paper is to present the issues concerning local elections in Norway. The following timeframe was adopted: from the date of passing the first bill on local government (1837), to the comprehensive description of the municipal and provincial elections held in 2011, 2015, 2019. The electoral system for Norwegian local government allows all social groups and local electoral committees to be represented in local government. This is proved by: the ability to ‘create’ their own electoral registers by adding new names on ballots, a large number of political entities seeking mandates, the way of counting votes and the distribution of seats in councils. The proportional system of counting votes in Norway (applying the modified Sainte-Laguё method) is connected with the opportunity to cast an individual vote (the principle of proportional representation). This solution enables numerous political groups and local committees to stand for election. Moreover, women have a sufficient representation in local governments to exert a real impact on the decision-making process. Such an electoral system is open to foreigners who, after fulfilling specific requirements, have the right to vote and be elected.