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COMMUNAL POLICY AND THE ROLE OF SMALL TOWNS IN LOCAL POLITICAL SYSTEM IN CZECH REPUBLIC

S. K. Kotaskova, D. Svetlikova

Abstract

Small towns have a crucial role in the formation of the communal political process in the Czech Republic. Small towns are a place where the sphere of independent politics, associations of independent political associations and mixed with high politics and parties represented at the national level. The aim of the article is to answer the question of the role of the inhabitants of small towns in relation to the political representation of the municipality. The authors aim to point out the specifics of the municipal electoral system in the Czech Republic and to define its pitfalls and the possibilities offered by the electoral system at the municipal level. The aim is also to highlight the role of so-called neighboring effect and the possibility of preferential voting in municipal elections. To achieve the goal of the article, preferential votes and local people's vote in municipal elections are being worked out. For the purpose of this article, small towns of the ГљstГ­ region are working. In particular, they are the towns of Krupka, ВЉluknov and ВЉt?tГ­. The work of the article was used especially in the study of professional literature. Among the documents studied were, in particular, minutes from meetings of councils and other municipal bodies, urban development documents, election results from the pages of the Czech Statistical Office. Small towns are natural centers of rural areas and have a role in rural development. Their development potential was mainly applied in cooperation with other municipalities - within microregions and other regional authorities. The basic criterion by which a small town can be defined is the population. However, the determination of the exact lower and upper boundaries differs in the literature. In order to set the lower limit, a minimum threshold was set for the municipality to be determined by the City pursuant to the Municipal Settlement Act (3 000 inhabitants). In urbanistic theory, cities are classified into several size categories according to significant spatial, functional and social differences. Based on these differences, small towns are defined by the size of 5,001-15,000 inhabitants [1] (Hampl).

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2018/1.2/S01.006

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