Is there a link between decentralized governance and conflict prevention? This article tries to answer the question by presenting the state of the art of the intersection of both concepts. Provided that social conflict is inevitable and given the appearance of new threats and types of violence,...

Economic policy in the modern world is mostly an outcome of interaction of numerous territorial centers of authority (countries or regions). However, the borders between these regions and the degree of centralization of economic decision-making in the system are endogenous to the internal logic...

The international community is usually set against secessionist movements that threaten to break up existing states. At the same time, many fragmented countries receive development aid, which influences the political process there. The model presented here seeks to answer two questions: “Is...

This paper presents an integrated analytical framework for the study of participatory local democracy weaved around the concepts of Governance, Governability and Governmentality. Drawing lessons from international experience, It focuses on the key determinants of the success of the local...

This paper evaluates whether reforms associated with the New Public Management (NPM) doctrine led to a reduction in public sector expenditure and employees. Savings and downsizing the public sector were a major justification when the international movement of public sector reforms began in the...

We analyze the effects of political business cycles and fiscal autonomy on the expenditure categories of Polish municipalities. Using System GMM technique, we find convincing evidence for strong political business cycles in almost all expenditure categories, and in particular for the categories...

An important but often neglected factor influencing the changes in power relations in Eurasia is the development of center-periphery relations in individual countries. Domestic and international politics are never clearly separated, especially in the emerging post-Soviet states, which still...