MAYORS IN SLOVAKIA - (A CASE-STUDY)

The authority of the directly elected mayor is a new element in the lo cal power structure in Slovakia. An understanding of local power holde rs is therefore very important to us. In the election results of the t wo mayoral elections three tendencies are identified: a decrease from 1990 to 1994 in the number of mayors with previous affiliation to the communist party, an increase in the number of mayors who do not belong to any party, and higher representation of ethnicity. The paper synth esises various data about the political background of mayors and their opinions and attitudes towards the local problems. The substantial se t of data comes from political autobiographies written by the mayors. By analysing them, the authors characterize the attitudes of the mayor s towards elected council members, local bureaucrats and the main prob lems faced by respective local self-governments. Mayors' descriptions of their time in office reflect local elite mobilization, revival of l ocal identity, behaviour of people in new local authorities, the relat ionship toward citizens, attitudes to local economic development and f inancial politics. Most mayors were particularly sensitive on party in terests represented by deputies in the local council. This problem is dominant in all the memoirs. Few mayors recognize the meaning of their cooperation with the local bureaucracy. The view that it is important to prepare officials for a qualitatively new relationship with the ci tizen, is rather the exception. Most mayors are conscious of the depen dance of their career; on their success in solving the main problems o f their communities, e.g., problems with the construction of main drai ns, water supplies, gas supplies, protecting the environment, storing and disposal of communal waste and social care. Financial issues - whe re to find the money for self-government and what were their prioritie s when distributing it - were the most common themes and the most stre ssed problem of local politics. The mayors belittle the citizens lack of interest in affairs of self-government and they believe that deputi es and mayors had gained their trust and entitlement to solve local pr oblems, in spite of insufficient information, increasing financial pro blems and the growth of unemployment.