engleski

Regional Elections in Croatia: From Third-Order County Elections to Genuine Regional Politics

Current second-tier organization in Croatia is based on twenty counties and the City of Zagreb with the county status. Counties are too small and have a rather low financial capacity and developmental role. They were established in 1993. In the 1993-2001 period counties were predominantly units responsible for deconcentrated state administration, with very narrow autonomy. That is why county elections were of third-order, after national and local elections. What was really important was the election of county governors – they were elected by the county assemblies with final approval of the President of the Republic. After 2001, counties were rearranged as autonomous units, without any state administrative tasks, and with widened self- government scope. County elections became second- order, along with local elections. At the moment, a new regional concept with only five historical regions is under serious professional and political debate. In the near future, the introduction of new, genuine regional organization is very likely. If those five new regions with broad autonomous scope of affairs are established, including regional development and strong regional policy, regional elections may become even first- order elections. The importance of regional elections depends on the significance of the regional scope of public affairs and the financial capacity of regional units.

regional elections ; counties ; Croatia ; national elections ; territoriality of vote

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