THE RESTRUCTURING OF COMMUNES IN SLOVENIA

When Slovenia gained its independence, one of the main tasks was the r estructuring of tiers of local self-government and communes. The power s of the different tiers had to be defined and the territorial structu re of the new state had to be established, new social and political or ganisations had to be formed. New elites were to be recruited to fill the functions in the communes and to facilitate social, economic and p olitical changes. 147 communes were formed, with about 13500 inhabitan ts on average, quite big ones by European standards. As local self-gov ernment does not only depend on the legal framework and the people nec essary for filling political functions but also on the resources avail able, financial support has to be secured.