Page 5 - IDEA Studie 12 2017 Kdo je vas starosta
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Study 12 /2017
Who is your mayor? Electoral competition and characteristics of political representatives in small Czech municipalities
Ján Palguta
Summary
Mayors and municipal council members hold considerable executive powers and take responsibility for many different administrative processes. They decide on local budgets, manage public property, ensure the operation of public schools, and are responsible for various public tenders and competitive selection procedures. Public expenditures of towns and municipalities in the Czech Republic amount to 5.1% of GDP.
The Czech Republic's residential structure is highly atomized. A total of 75.7% of municipalities have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, and 89.2% of municipalities have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. With an average of 1,640 inhabitants, Czech municipalities are six times smaller than the OECD average. The greatest number of municipalities under 1,000 residents are located in the Vysočina, South Bohemian and Hradec Králové regions.
This study empirically demonstrates that the electoral competition for seats in themunicipal councils substantially declines with the size of municipalities. Municipalities with 10,000-20,000 inhabitants see an average of 8.8 candidates competing for one council seat, while municipalities with under 1,000 inhabitants have an average of just 2.2 candidates. About 450,000 Czech citizens reside in municipalities "affected" by the very small pool of candidates (no more than two) for one council seat.
In relatively larger towns, about every other candidate party manages to win seats in a municipal council. In small municipalities, almost all political groups in the race gain representation in the council.
Smaller municipalities have women mayors more often compared to larger towns, although the proportion of women to men among candidates is comparable between small municipalities and larger towns.
Czech voters elect representatives with a higher attained education compared to the average of all candidates. However, the share of representatives with university degree and previous managerial or professional positions substantially declines with
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