bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Breakdown of the Iron Triangle in the Process of Japan’s Trinity Reform: An Application of the Multiple Streams Framework to Compare Stakeholder Dynamics Inherent in Policy Change
Authors: Linh Bui Thi Thu , Ha Phung Thi Thu , Aung Ko Ko , Nhung Nguyen Thi Hong , Lim Seunghoo
Published: September 2018

To decentralize Japan’s fiscal system, the Trinity Reform, which was implemented from 2003 to 2007, reformed (i) the transference of tax revenue sources from the central to local governments, (ii) local allocation tax, and (iii) national subsidies and grants. This study drew on the multiple streams framework in public policy—including problem, policy, and politics—to understand the financial change process in intergovernmental relationships and the successes of Prime Minister Koizumi as a policy entrepreneur in breaking the iron triangle of the Liberal Democratic Party politicians, ministry bureaucrats, and local governments to administer the fiscal decentralization and local autonomy reform.
Reduced the Risk in Agriculture Management for Government Using Support Vector Regression with Dynamic Optimization Parameters
Authors: Lee Chien-Pang
Published: September 2018

A good agricultural policy can reduce the risk of agricultural management. In the past, the traditional statistical methods were always used for assisting agricultural management. However, the assumptions of traditional methods might not fit for real life data, that would affect the decision of agricultural management. For this reason, this paper uses big data analysis to propose a novel prediction model without any assumption to forecast agricultural output for reducing the risk. According to the result, the proposed model is better than the existing models in terms of prediction accuracy. Accordingly, the proposed model can be suggested for reducing the risk of agricultural management of government.
The Approach of the Local System of Child Protection from a Social-Network Aspect and its Options of Interpretation – A Case Study
Authors: Bertalan Imre
Published: September 2018

Present study focus on the local system of child protection. It undertakes to provide a detailed picture of the structure of the system but in the same time paying special attention to interpersonal relations and the work through interpersonal nexuses. According to our hypotesis a deep, informal network lies between the authorities and institutions. Present study also involves the dimension of social connections in the interpretation. We hypothesize that centralization tendencies are not affecting the local system of child protection significantly because it is a dinamic system with an operation based on the relations of individuals and professionals.
A Normative Theory of Local Government: Connecting Individual Autonomy and Local Self-Determination with Democracy
Authors: Erlingsson Gissur Ó , Ödalen Jörgen
Published: September 2018

The issue of local government reform is high on the agenda in many developed democracies. The discussion is often framed in narrow terms, focusing on functional efficiency. In this article, we construct a normative argument for local government that values local government because it fulfills morally desirable purposes in itself, regardless of its functional efficiency. The argument is that the same foundational value – individual autonomy – constitutes the normative underpinning of both democracy and the right to local self-government. The implication is that if we value democracy, we must defend a strong and constitutionally protected local government.
Why Can't We Supervise What Central Banks are Doing in Our Name? Troubling Gaps in State Auditing of Central Banks in Eurozone
Authors: Vesel Tomaž
Published: September 2018

Article presents the attempts of Central banks in Europe to avoid comprehensive supervision over the regularity and performance of their operations by referring to their independence. Even though the effectiveness of operations of central banks in Europe significant influences public finance standings and economic situation in general, there is no efficient control established over the central banks in Europe. National central banks (NCB) in Eurozone are reluctant to account to Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) since they endeavour to achieve the legal prohibition of audit of their operations respectively they are willing to agree only to significantly limited audit scope of (less important) parts of their operations. The final decisions are in hands of national parliaments that are – without prejudice to the competence of the EU institutions – independent in determining the scope of audit by the national SAIs over the national central banks.
Determinants of Women’s Descriptive Representation in the 2014 Czech and Slovak Local Elections
Authors: Maškarinec Pavel , Klimovský Daniel
Published: September 2018

The main objective of this article is to analyse the determinants of women’s descriptive representation in the 2014 local elections in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is shown that although both countries are considered democratic and in spite of two decades of multi-dimensional transition, women are underrepresented at the local level. Especially electoral results in the municipalities which are considered sub-regional centres and where almost one-half of the population of both countries is concentrated are studied. As it is pointed out, factors like local population or political and institutional factors play an important role in women’s success in local politics.
Developments In Transparency In The Spanish Municipalities: An Analytical Revision Of The Last Research
Authors: Mendieta Manuel Villoria , Alonso Ángel Iglesias
Published: September 2018

The Spanish local system rests on two pillars, municipalities and provinces. Lately, as a result of the economic crisis and the fiscal stress that afflicts most Spanish local governments they are forced to rely on inter-municipal cooperation and collaboration. This new local landscape challenges and raises concerns about accountability. Different theories confirm that working with greater transparency helps the effectiveness, efficiency and the control of corruption in the public sector and, in this context, municipalities in Spain have decided that transparency is a fertile ground that is essential to improve performance. This article, based on an analytical revision of the last research, attempts to prove that there has been substantial progress in this regard, although there is still a long road to achieving full open government.
Principles or Rules-based Regulation in the Face of Uncertainty – Does it Really Matter?
Authors: Pečarič Mirko
Published: September 2018

The public administrations prepare draft laws. New things always emerge that cannot be in advance framed in laws. One solution could be the principle-based approach on the local and national level that gives the most relevant principles-rules combinations in the face of complexity. The paper presents the ability to measure principles and rules: it establishes the “1:47 rule” or ratio between the principles and rules, and gives a model that embraces the principles-rules evaluation elements and their weights. By this method, decision-makers and norms' addresses could achieve decisions without the need for more and more detailed, but ineffective regulations.
Does the Financial Self-sufficiency of Municipalities Affect Efficiency of the Museums which they Founded? (A Case Study from the Czech Republic)
Authors: Plaček Michal , Ochrana František , Půček Milan , Křápek Milan , Špaček David
Published: September 2018

This paper analyzes and discusses the impact of fiscal decentralization on the efficiency of museums run by municipalities. It tests the hypothesis that municipalities with higher levels of income self-sufficiency can more efficiently manage museums than municipalities with lower levels of financial self-sufficiency. For our analysis, we used financial data for the years 2015 to analyze the efficiency of museums using data envelopment analysis (DEA). To test the hypothesis about the impact of financial self-sufficiency, we use regression analysis. The results obtained did not confirmed the hypothesis.
Efficiency of Slovenian Public General Libraries: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach
Authors: Srakar Andrej , Kodrič-Dačić Eva , Koman Klemen , Kavaš Damjan
Published: September 2018

In the article, we study financing and efficiency of Slovenian Public General Libraries. We employ a rich dataset of CEZAR – Centre for Development of Libraries for the years 2008-2014 for 58 libraries and use data envelopment analysis and regression methods to study the efficiency of libraries over the years. Our main results show that the problems for the libraries in this period did not lie in the lowered efficiency but more likely in other system requirements. We also provide a grouping of libraries following clustering analysis and show it had significant effects on the performance of the libraries.
Fiscal Resources of Local Self – Government Budgets from Environmental Charges on Czech Republic
Authors: Czudek Damian , Mrkývka Petr
Published: September 2018

Protection and creation of environment represents a significant problem in Czech society - at the state and local governments. The state, regions and municipalities are responsible for creating and maintaining a healthy environment for their citizens and for future generations. Economic development brings the raising of living standards on one side, however, presents on the other side many negative moments resulting from the creation of environmental burdens of various kinds, in particular, the territory exploitation by mining activities, water and air pollution and industrial and municipal waste disposal. The state imposes taxes and charges on originators of environmental burdens, whose revenue is then used to finance programs and projects for the rehabilitation of the environment and its gradual improvement. This article is the outline of these payments catalog.
The Impact of Fiscal Decentralisation on Local Economic Development in Montenegro
Authors: Kaludjerovic Jadranka , Mirković Milika , Jocović Mijat
Published: September 2018

The goal of the paper is to determine the extent to which local governments in Montenegro have managed to direct their increasing fiscal autonomy towards supporting local economic development. Our analysis of local business support programmes has shown that local governments have space to improve their business environments and business support programmes. Econometric analysis of data for 21 municipalities for 2007-2014 period, showed that the increase of own-source and shared revenues has a positive impact on local economic development. However, these findings are insufficient to conclude the extent to which decentralisation influences economic development and identify channels whereby it exerts this influence.
Colorful or colorless? Local parties defending ethnic minority interests
Authors: Wauters Bram , Eelbode Floor , Celis Karen
Published: September 2018

We investigate to what extent local political parties have attention for ethnic minority interests. We are interested in whether party-related or context-related variables lead to higher levels of attention to ethnic minority interests. Our analysis is based on a broad scale survey among local party chairs in Belgium. The results show that mainly party-related variables explain variance in attention for ethnic minority interests: leftist parties and active parties are more likely to defend these interests. The presence of ethnic minority people in a party does not have a significant effect once we control for factors at the municipality level.
The Recent Reform of Spanish Local Governmental Accounting: A Critical Perspective from Local Governmental Accountants As Internal Users Of Budgeting And Financial Accounting Information.
Authors: Vela-Bargues Jose Manuel , Dasí-González Rosa María , Gimeno-Ruíz Amparo
Published: September 2018

Local Government Accounting and Financial Reporting in Spain has been recently reformed by the new Accounting Instructions published in 2103 and in force since the 1st of January 2015. Once the financial reports corresponding to 2016 fiscal year have been published, the main purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate, the perceptions and opinions that local governmental accountants have about the recent reform. Our analysis has found a clear gap between the aims of the reform and the opinion of local governmental accountants, who consider the system too complex and clearly biased towards financial accounting information.
Determinants of Creative Capital Development at a Local Level: Case Study Municipalities of Podkarpackie, Poland
Authors: Szara Katarzyna
Published: September 2018

Although it is highly controversial, the concept proposed by R. Florida has an interesting and important feature, visible from a time perspective. Indeed, the theory of creative class started research into economic development based on creativity. Generally, there are no empirical studies focusing on these issues at the local level. The present study is an attempt to identify determinants of local development and to assess municipalities from the viewpoint of creative capital engagement. To achieve this the study analysed opinions acquired from representatives of municipal offices and representatives of local populations across Podkarpackie, one of the 16 regions of Poland. The findings show that municipalities of the Podkarpackie Region vary in terms of determinants for creative capital development.
The Institution of Local Ombudsman in the Republic of Serbia - Success Story or Missed Opportunity?
Authors: Davinic Marko , Krstic Ivana
Published: September 2018

The authors analyze the position and competencies of local ombudsmen in the Republic of Serbia, which exist in 22 cities and municipalities. They argue that the basic problem for the slow expansion of this institution can be found in its non-mandatory character and unwillingness of local political elites to be subjected to independent oversight in their work. This problem can be overcome by adopting a separate Law on Local Ombudsmen, which would systemically regulate their mandatory status, the procedure they conduct, as well as ensure further guarantees of their independence, in particular those of financial nature.
CEO Background and Company Performance – Evidence from the Cohesion Regions of Eastern and Western Slovenia
Authors: Gabršek Renata , Ferjan Marko , Podbregar Iztok , Arsenijević Olja , Šprajc Polona
Published: September 2018

The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not a CEO’s background (i.e. age, field and level of education and length of tenure in top management positions) affects a company’s performance (in terms of net return on assets) and, if so, what, if any, are the differences between the two cohesion regions in Slovenia, i.e. Eastern and Western Slovenia. The sample included 109 managers that manage companies in all statistical regions and various areas of activity. The study failed to confirm a connection between a CEO’s background and company performance with regard to the Eastern and Western cohesion regions. However, we have been able to confirm that companies’ performance indicators in the Eastern cohesion region are significantly lower than those of companies in the Western cohesion region. The reason for this may be traced to the companies’ areas of activity and their differences between the regions, where one can claim that specific areas of activity constitute an industry in the individual region.
Self-imposed Contribution in Slovenian and Serbian Legislation: Concept and Legal Nature
Authors: Podlipnik Jernej , Ilić-Popov Gordana
Published: September 2018

Sometimes, in order to provide themselves better living conditions, the residents of a certain municipality may be willing to pay an additional fiscal levy besides ordinary taxes. In this paper, the authors deal with a self-imposed contribution as a possible resource of local budgets, comparing the regulation and concept of such a contribution in Slovenia and Serbia. By analysing the characteristics of such a levy in these two former Yugoslav states, the authors based their main hypothesis on proving that self-imposed contribution is, according to its legal nature, also a type of a tax, even if it is introduced under a referendum and the funds are earmarked for specific local purposes.
Can We Put Numbers on Municipal Performance and Sustainability? A New Strategic Paradigm
Authors: Caldas Paulo , Dollery Brian , Marques Rui Cunha
Published: September 2018

This paper considers “measuring what matters” in local government and applies a Council Sustainability Index (CSI) to all 308 Portuguese municipalities. Using a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis Methodology (MCDA), an additive evaluation model is applied which aggregates 25 indicators across four dimensions to assess Portuguese local government sustainability. A critical evaluation of performance is provided along with a financial sustainability analysis and governance evaluation, which identifies the chief factors which explain different councils’ performance. We show that this approach sheds new light on Portuguese local government evaluation. CSI breaks new ground and it is applicable mutatis mutandis to most local government systems worldwide.
The Draft Reform of Land Taxation in the Czech Republic
Authors: Radvan Michal
Published: September 2018

The article is a reaction to the intention of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic to propose a draft amendment to the Real Estate Tax Act, which could cause a revolution in the assessment of tax base. After outlining the different models for tax base and tax rate assessment of land tax and characterizing the currently valid legal regulation, the article analyses critically the intended draft amendment to the Real Estate Tax Act, which aims to introduce the ad valorem system of land taxation. It is expected that the most effective method will be used in the future, i.e. tax base maps compiled by municipalities as the beneficiaries of real estate tax. The article describes the disadvantages of the ad valorem system of land taxation and highlights the advantages of the intended changes.
Fiscal Decentralization and Public debt in the European Union
Authors: Horváthová Lenka , Horváth Julius , Gazda Vladimír , Kubák Matúš
Published: September 2018

This paper analyses the relationship between fiscal decentralization and the level of the public debt in the twenty seven member countries of the European Union. Our panel data analysis points to the importance of size as fiscal decentralization reduces public debt in large and small countries, but not in medium - size countries. In addition, our results show that the number of government levels and average size of the lowest government unit is insignificant with respect to the public debt in these countries.
Quest for an Effective and Efficient Local Government: Local Government in Japan and Policy Implication for Local Government in Bangladesh
Authors: Chowdhury Mohammad Shahjahan , Al-Hossienie Chowdhury Abdullah
Published: September 2018

The aim of this paper is to identify the actors and factors which are important for effective and efficient functioning of local government. With a view to presenting the features of local government Japan has been selected as case for the study, in terms of legal authority, political parties, negotiation in budget process, inter-transfer of officials and decentralization of more power to local government, authority and process of recruitment, training of personnel, financial autonomy and transparency and ratio of revenue to be spent by the local government. The problems of local government in Bangladesh are also identified in relation to the above factors and some policies are recommended to resolve them.
Courtroom Oaths and Patrimonial Court in 18th-century Carniola: Vestiges of ius proprium and local autonomy (The Case of the Estate of Veldes/Bled)
Authors: Škrubej Katja
Published: September 2018

Prevailing concepts of »feudalism« frequently view the patrimonial court as an instrument of the coercive power of the feudal lord. Yet from the Bled archives we learn that the court served overwhelmingly the lawsuits among villagers - who were also the oath-takers - over money, property and inheritance matters. Legal rules that the court followed were pluralistic in nature. In addition, in the 18th century Carniola proceedings were held in vernacular Slovene, enabling the continuing use of vernacular legal notions (such as zastava, poroštvo) and custom-based rules, the longevity of which rivals the old communal institutions such as the župan.
An Analysis of the Applicable System of Financing the Municipalities in Slovenia
Authors: Brezovnik Boštjan , Oplotnik Žan
Published: September 2018

This paper examines the compliance of the system of financing the local self-government in Slovenia with the basic principles of the theory of decentralisation, and with the guidelines of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, thereby focusing primarily on the level of coverage of costs within the municipal competence by using the allocated appropriate expenditure resources. We ascertained that, overall, during the observed period from 2007 to 2009, the Slovenian municipalities were adequately supported financially because average expenditures were around 9% lower than the appropriate expenditure resources. Major system anomalies were detected in a micro-analysis of selected groups of municipalities, especially through a relatively large range between the lowest and highest costs. The range was between €319 and €1,167 per capita (an average of €527). A similarly great range was perceived also in the appropriate expenditure amount (between €416 and €1,196 with an average of €558), and in the index of resource coverage with expenditures where the range was between 0.50 and 1.75 (an average is 1.09). In spite of the fact that there were fewer than 15% of the municipalities that fell under the threshold categories, the sustainability of the entire system worsened due to the cross-impact effect when a relatively small amount of appropriate expenditure belonged to some municipalities with high costs. This was especially evident in the case of urban municipalities. Thus, urban municipalities recoded, on average, up to +13% more costs with an average of 26-percent smaller value of the appropriate expenditure amount.
Basic Characteristics of the Development of Organisational Structures of the Catholic Church in Slovenia
Authors: Kolar Bogdan
Published: September 2018

Different organisational structures of the Catholic Church in Slovenia were a reflection of the circumstances in the Christian community in the Central European region. Being a basic structure, a diocese has existed since the antique period. The diocese is a religious community with a centre in a large settlement (civitas). With the spread of Christianity into the rural areas and into the peasant environment, parishes began to come into existence. In historiography, the terms 'primitive parishes' began to be used to refer to the oldest parishes. They were characterised by their vastness. The number of primitive parishes increased in the 12th century. Due to remoteness of diocesan centres from the communities in rural areas and because of the inability of bishops to be in touch with the priests in rural areas, intermediate stages of organisation were coming into existence during centuries, i.e., archdeaconries and deaneries at some places. Some important changes occurred in the operation of the Catholic Church and in its organisation in Slovenia during the years after the Second World War. New parishes were established. The change of the state boundaries required changing the diocesan boundaries. Finally, the creation of the independent state of the Republic of Slovenia required a new setting up of the pastoral work and a new territorial organisation of dioceses.

KEY WORDS: • Slovenia • Catholic Church • metropolis • diocese • archdeaconry • deanery • parish
Local Community Safety – Case Study
Authors: Virtič Franc , Gorenak Vinko
Published: September 2018

In its introduction, the paper defines the meanings of the words 'safety' and 'police'. Then it deals with different police organisations, their organisational structure and different police models of operation with the emphasis on studying the latest approach to the police work called community policing that is being introduced also in the Slovene police lately. Since the central topic here is local community safety, the paper deals with the community at which police work must be targeted. Then follows a study and analysis overview regarding the population's readiness to co-operate with the police. The empirical part of the paper presents an opinion survey among the Podravje Region population to find out to what extent people trust the police, how they are satisfied with the police work, what is the discrepancy between estimation and the expectations the Podravje population has for police officers, and how safe they feel. The survey shows the following: the Podravje population feels safe, people trust the police and they are ready to co-operate in solving safety problems. It has been ascertained that police officers fulfil people's expectations, because in dealing with people, the police were better than expected.

KEY WORDS: • safety • police • public • local community • joint creation of safety
The Process of Communication between Citizens and Public Authority Bodies - a New concept of General Administrative Procedure
Authors: Trpin Gorazd
Published: September 2018

This paper stresses that fundamental procedural rules, such as lawfulness, fairness, openness, the possibility of active participation in forming a decision, explanations of decisions, transparent legal remedies, etc. must become a constituent part of normal communication between individuals and public authority bodies. The paper also places an emphasis on the perception of these institutes that should become part of administrative ethics so that it would no longer be necessary to consider whether a certain action is in accordance with the law or not. In this case, we could most probably expand the applicability of this procedure to the state administration, local self-governing bodies and holders of public powers of attorney so that we would be left with one single procedure that would be more adapted to the modern method of communication between individuals and public authority bodies.

Key words: • Process of Communication • General Administrative Procedure • Public Authority Bodies • Slovenia • Croatia
Project Finance
Authors: Romih Dejan
Published: September 2018

Project finance is enjoying renewed attention as a financing technique in which the lenders look primarily to the cash-flow of a project as the main source of loan reimbursement, whereas assets represent only collateral. Owing to the general misunderstanding of the terms used in respect of project finance, the purpose of the paper will be to provide clear definitions, drawing attention to different project finance transactions that can be placed on a continuum, with recourse to project sponsors ranging from non-recourse to almost complete recourse. Several characteristics of project finance will also be addressed.

KEY WORDS: • financial economics • structured finance • project finance • non-recourse and limited recourse debt • special purpose vehicle • highly leveraged capital structure
An Analysis of Electoral Abstention in Ljubljana, the Capital of Slovenia
Authors: Vrhovac Sanda , Bačlija Irena
Published: September 2018

In a democratic political system, electoral participation is regarded as a fundamental medium of political self-realisation and as the most straightforward expression of the public opinion of citizens. Voter participation in elections is one of the most characteristic indicators of authority legitimacy. The higher voter participation, the higher legitimacy of a political system will be. However, in the last few decades, we have been witnessing a distinct trend toward the decline in voter turnout in the world and in our country. The purpose of our paper is to examine the trend of electoral behaviour in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and to confirm the assumption that electoral abstention has begun to increase also in the City Municipality of Ljubljana. On the basis of an empirical research, we want to operationalise some aspects of the theoretical origins of the reasons for abstention from elections to identify the indicators that could clarify the decline in voter turnout.

KEY WORDS: • local elections • electoral abstention • voter turnout trend • Ljubljana • capital of Slovenia • city municipality
Application of the Rules of the Code of Obligations for Concession Contract Relations: Concession Contract on the Boundary between the Public and Private Interests
Authors: Ahlin Janez
Published: September 2018

The special legal nature of the concession contract (as one of the legal transactions) which represents a legal framework where the public and private interests meet (two parties cooperate for mutual benefit) is characterised by intertwining of general rules of obligation law and special legal institutes that originate from the sphere of public law. The legal nature of the contractual relationships that arise between administrative and private entities requires special regulation of individual institutes that should reflect the public interest as an important guiding principle for concluding these contracts, and a special legal position of a public law entity as a holder of this public interest. Despite adoption of the new Public-Private Partnership Act in the legislative regulation of the concession contract that still remains variously regulated in previously adopted special provisions of sectoral laws, there are still some deficiencies and dilemmas that are more or less effectively dealt with in the contractual practice. For the legal positions that are classically civil at first sight, the legislator or court practice have laid down special modified rules of civil law in most developed countries. In the course of time, these rules became part of public law / administrative law. Thus, the French legal order has best developed the rules of the public contractual law and the legal institute of the administrative contract that the Slovenian administrative theoreticians try more and more to introduce also into our legal order.

KEY WORDS: • concession contract • concession partnership • public-private partnership • public interest • party equality principle • law of obligations
Institutional Environment and Housing Conditions in the European Union
Authors: Oplotnik Tjaša
Published: September 2018

There is no housing policy at the level of the European Union. Therefore, it is the domain of national options. There are also big differences between individual Member States. Despite that, the basic feature of the housing policies has been privatisation in most European countries over the last twenty years. It means transferring the responsibility for housing provision from the state to the market and formation of financial networks within which an individual can provide his or her housing. In nearly all EU Member States, including Slovenia, a major volume of selective allocation of housing construction for the market and a higher level of housing quality are noticeable. The purpose of this paper is to present the housing policies and the housing market conditions in Slovenia, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and Spain. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the selected countries, we tried to present characteristics, differences or similarities in the housing standard. They are reflected in the quality, availability and accessibility of the housing stock.

KEY WORDS: • housing market • housing policy • quality • availability • accessibility • housing stock • Slovenia • Great Britain • Germany • Sweden • Spain
Self-government and Autonomy of Statutory Municipalities in the Light of Historical Sources for the »Provincial Capital of Ljubljana«
Authors: Kambič Marko
Published: September 2018

Today, a municipality is automatically considered as a basic local self-governing (and autonomous) community. Nevertheless, we need to keep in mind that the contemporary understanding of the municipality and its regulations are the fruit of the long development that - in Central Europe - began over 150 years ago as the foundations for modern regulations were laid. This paper briefly illustrates the draft and legal bases for the modern concept of municipal administration. It focuses on the legal position of the most important statutory municipalities in the Habsburg Monarchy at which it uses the town of Ljubljana as an example. The paper also deals with the important issue of the relationship between the institutions of self-government and autonomy. Based on the analysis of the historical legal sources, it shows that local autonomy should not be equated, as is often the case, with the concept of local self-government. It further maintains that the old Austrian municipalities were at least formally autonomous and that their autonomy was limited in the interest of the state. On the basis of archive sources for Ljubljana, it ascertains that the municipality was autonomous only as far as it could choose the moment and mode of regulating certain municipal affairs and as far as it could take into account local specifics in adopting the norms, which proved to be quite sufficient under the given circumstances. Namely, the municipal autonomy was one of the factors that significantly contributed to the rise in the standard of living for the inhabitants of Ljubljana at the end of the 19th century. Last but not least, it also contributed to the victory in the struggle for the Slovenian national rights.

Key words: • municipality • statutory municipality • town • local government • self-government • autonomy • municipal self-government • municipal autonomy • independent sphere of activity • delegated sphere of activity • town charter • Austrian Monarchy • Ljubljana • Slovenia
The Position, Election and Powers of the President of the Republic of Estonia
Authors: Dubrovnik Tadej
Published: September 2018

Estonia has a typical parliamentary system in which the President of the Republic is indirectly elected. This paper deals with the position of the President of the Republic of Estonia, with the election of the President, and with his powers. Particular attention is paid to standard functions and powers in the legislative and executive realms. In addition, the extraordinary powers of the President of the Republic are also mentioned. The largest chapter of this paper describes the election of the President of the Republic. The Estonian regulation is specific because it allows up to five rounds of elections. The President of the Republic is elected by the Parliament in the first three rounds of elections. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a special electoral body is formed (it is made up of the Members of Parliament and the representatives of local self-governing communities) to elect the President of the Republic in the fourth round of elections and, if necessary, in the fifth round of elections. The local council of each local community elects at least one representative to this body. The number of the representatives an individual local community will have depends on the number of citizens living in its area. In the end, the paper presents the responsibilities of the President of the Republic.

KEY WORDS: • electins • President of the Republic of Estonia • local self-government • parliament • Estonia
Organizational Concepts of Public Services in the Republic of Macedonia
Authors: Davitkovski Borce , Pavlovska Daneva Ana
Published: September 2018

The public services which fulfil some common social needs are provided by public, private and mixed institutions in Macedonia. Their legal framework is the Public Institution Act. Public institutions can be established by the state-owned, municipal and private funds. An institution has the capacity of a legal person with the rights and obligations determined by law. It can conclude contracts and perform legal affairs within the professional framework as it is registered in the Central Register. Each institution has its own bodies: the management board, director, a supervisory body and other bodies determined by law. During the 17-year process of Macedonia’s approaching the Euro-Atlantic integration and legal harmonization, the field of profession-specific organizations, oriented solely at providing public services, has undergone major changes. The results of these changes are still to be measured and assessed.

KEY WORDS: • public service delivery • public institution • financing public service delivery • public management • Macedonia
Financing Municipal Utility Activities and Local Public Enterprises by Way of Illustrating the Situation in the Republic of Macedonia
Authors: Pendovska Vesna , Maksimovska Veljanovska Aleksandra
Published: September 2018

This paper is about the local utility services in the decentralization process in the Republic of Macedonia. Particular emphasis is placed on the legal framework for financing municipal utility services through the decentralization process. Since the utility service tariffs are relatively low, the Macedonian utility companies want to increase their tariffs up to cost recovery levels to achieve higher standards required by the EU Directives. The paper also deals with financial relations between the central and local authorities versus the utility company management and the current state of providing utility services in light of financial issues. It has been found out that there is a huge potential to improve user charges. However, due to the current economic situation and the unwillingness of customers to pay higher fees, this solution cannot be applied for the time being.

KEY WORDS: • public service delivery • financing municipal activities • public enterprise • Macedonia
Topical Issues on the Legal Regulation of the Public Enterprise in Slovenia
Authors: Brezovnik Boštjan
Published: September 2018

When national authorities decide what activities will be needed to provide public goods and to what extent, they must also make a decision on the modes of allocation and distribution of public goods (which are the objects of public service provision) among users. In the practice of the EU Member States, a variety of diverse public service provision systems can be found. They vary between the public sector and the market, and they include numerous and highly diverse organisational forms of public service provision. A public enterprise is one of them. In the Slovenian legal regulation, a variety of problems arise due to the deficiencies in the existing public enterprise organisation. These problems mostly result from some public enterprise status issues regulated under private law. The biggest problem of statutory regulation of the public enterprise status in Slovenia is certainly the absence of a special organisational model of the public enterprise.

KEYWORDS: • public services • public enterprise • legal framework • Slovenia
Local Political Leadership in Portugal: Excepcionalism or Convergence Towards a 'Mayoral Model'?
Authors: Nunes Silva Carlos
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reform of institutional forms that frame local government in Portugal, and to put them into a comparative European perspective. The paper addresses the following research question: To what extent have Portuguese local government reforms shown convergence or divergence with the local political leadership models in Europe over the last three decades of democracy? We hypothesized that reforms affected the local government system in different ways, using some of its components and following more explicitly international trends than others. This hypothesis was tested against the model of local political leadership, including the rules governing the recruitment of mayors and local councillors. This study is based on both archival research for the Portuguese case and the literature review for the survey of international trends. The findings indicate the existence of similarities between reforms in Portugal and reforms in other European countries. But they also indicate divergence in some important dimensions of the local government system.

KEYWORDS: • local government reform • institutional forms • recruitment • models of local political leadership • Portugal
Non-Privileged Applicants: Local Communities as Applicants of the Annulment Action before the European Court of Justice
Authors: Hojnik Janja , Knez Rajko
Published: September 2018

In addition to the option of submitting requests for reviewing constitutionality and legality to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, it has been possible for the Slovenian local communities to contest EC Acts before the EC Courts over the last five years. But the terms and conditions for that are much stricter than those required by the national law. The paper analyses the complex system of legal rules determining the terms and conditions to be observed by local communities to contest the legal acts issued by the EU institutions. These conditions are very strict. They can be hardly fulfilled by local communities because equal conditions apply both to them and to legal / natural persons. For this reason, EU has been criticized for not providing an efficient system of legal remedies to protect the rights of natural and legal persons to whom also local communities pertain. The European Court of Justice partially accepted criticism, thereby facilitating contestation of EC Acts. However, it limited itself primarily to some specific areas of EC law. Wide criticism of the ECJ has led to some changes being made under the Lisbon Treaty, although these changes are not as liberal as expected.

EC Treaty • locus standi • local communities • individual concern • direct concern • Slovenia • EU
Why do councillors quit prematurely? On the democratic consequences of councillors leaving their seats before the end of their terms
Authors: Erlingsson Gissur Ó , Öhrvall Richard
Published: September 2018

In Sweden, one out of six councillors leave council before their term ends, which is often claimed to signal a crisis for democracy. We critically scrutinize this by surveying the motives behind dropping out. The claim may be right if political motives dominate, but if private motives dominate, dropouts do not signal a crisis for democracy. Questionnaires were sent to all premature dropouts from 2002-2006 and 2006-2009 in 13 municipalities. We find that private reasons dominate, and a majority of the respondents report that they enjoyed their time in council. Therefore premature dropouts cannot be claimed to signal a crisis for local democracy.

Keywords: • de-recruitment • premature dropouts • local politics • political parties • local government
Social limits to redistribution and conspicuous norms
Authors: Ferrari Luca
Published: September 2018

In this article the author considers an economy in which individuals are matched into pairs and the desirability of an individual depends on her position on the distribution of wealth. He assumes that individuals show their relative standing by consuming a conspicuous good and he shows that there exist different social norms supporting different matching arrangements. In addition, individuals have to vote over a redistributive policy and the author shows that, despite the desirability of the full redistributive outcomes, under some economic conditions the medium class is able to match with the high class in exchange of a minimum level of redistribution of wealth which keeps the low class far from economic and social opportunities.
Risk Factors for Prolonged Postoperative Opioid Use After Spine Surgery: A Review of Dispensation Trends From a State-run Prescription Monitoring Program
Authors: Rosenthal Brett D. , Suleiman Linda I. , Kannan Abhishek , Edelstein Adam I. , Hsu Wellington K. , Patel Alpesh A.
Published: September 2018

Introduction:

Opioid abuse and dependence have a detrimental effect on elective orthopaedic surgeries, yet pain control is an important predictor of postoperative satisfaction. We aimed at better defining risk factors for prolonged postoperative opioid requirements and risk factors for patients requiring higher doses of opioids after spine surgery.

Methods:

The Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program was queried to analyze opioid dispensation patterns at 3 and 6 months postoperatively for adult patients who had spine surgery at a tertiary care hospital by a single surgeon over a 5-year period. Patients were divided into three groups: group 1 patients had opioid dispensed to them 3 and 6 months preoperatively, group 2 patients had opioid dispensed to them only at 3 months preoperatively, and group 3 patients did not have preoperative opioid prescriptions. Demographic characteristics, psychiatric history, smoking status, alcohol use, body mass index, surgical region, and presence of multiple prescribers were abstracted. Statistical analysis included multivariate modified Poisson regression, linear regression, and chi-squared testing when appropriate.

Results:

Patients in group 1 were at significantly increased risk of continued opioid usage than those in group 2 (relative risk, 3.934; 95% confidence interval, 1.691 to 9.150; P = 0.0015) and those in group 3 (relative risk, 4.004; 95% confidence interval, 1.712 to 9.365; P = 0.0014) at 6 months postoperatively. Group 1 patients also had larger quantities of opioid dispensed to them relative to patients in group 2 or group 3 (P < 0.0001) at 6 months postoperatively.

Discussion:

Use of opioid medications at 6 months preoperatively is a risk factor for continued usage and at higher doses 6 months postoperatively.

Level of Evidence:

Level III: retrospective cohort study
Asystentura rodziny jako nowa forma wsparcia środowiska rodzinnego
Authors: Walc Wiesława
Published: September 2018

Powołanie kilka lat temu zawodu asystenta rodziny stanowi jakościową zmianę w polskim systemie pomocy społecznej, koncentrującym się dotąd w znacznej mierze na wypłacaniu świadczeń i niezbyt szeroko podejmowanych próbach bardziej intensywnej pracy socjalnej z jednostkami i rodzinami Zadaniem tego specjalisty jest świadczenie pomocy rodzinom przeżywającym trudności w codziennym funkcjonowaniu, zwłaszcza w realizacji funkcji opiekuńczo-wychowawczej. Asystentura rodziny jest indywidualną, intensywną pracą „w” rodzinie, „z” rodziną i „dla” rodziny, przy jej czynnym uczestnictwie. Asystent rodziny to przedstawiciel służb społecznych, który przez pewien czas towarzyszy rodzinie i wspiera ją, aby w przyszłości samodzielnie potrafiła pokonywać trudności życiowe, zwłaszcza dotyczące opieki i wychowania dzieci. W jego pracy istotna jest dobrowolność, zaufanie, współudział rodziny na każdym etapie procesu wsparcia oraz symetryczna relacja między wspierającym a wspieranym. Do tej formy pomocy społecznej klient ma prawo, ale w oparciu o zasadę subsydiarności. Powinien on w pierwszej kolejności wykorzystać własne zasoby, uprawnienia i możliwości poprawy własnej sytuacji. Nie wolno wyręczać jednostki w samodzielnym podejmowaniu przez nią działań oraz inicjatywy w rozwiązywaniu trudności życiowych
W tekście scharakteryzowana została istota oraz specyfika działalności zawodowej asystentów rodzin, ich zadania oraz stosowane przez nich metody pracy. Ukazano aktualnie obowiązujące przepisy prawne, regulujące w naszym kraju działalność tych specjalistów. Przytoczono też wybrane wyniki przeprowadzonych dotąd badań, których przedmiotem były różne aspekty pełnienia przez asystentów rodziny ich roli zawodowej.