Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 20th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Local Government Author(s) Pawel Swianiewicz Wroclaw University of Enviornmental and Life Sciences Wroclaw Poland Title Poland: Between ideology of local autonomy and pragmatic convenience of central control File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Pawel Swianiewicz Abstract The paper focuses on the fiscal dimension of local autonomy versusu central control over local authorities' operation. First it discusses the "ideological roots" of the current situation in Poland in which the decentralization localist ideology confronts the centralist attitude of central level sector bureaucracies and pro-centralist elements of the populist public disocurse. In the second part of the paper the dimensions of fiscal autonomy and central control are briefly discussed through presentation of: (i) locally controlled taxes, (ii) transfer system, (iii) fees for locally delivered services, (iv) norms and standards related to local services. In the final section I discuss whether local governments are really interested in enlarging the scope of their discretion (autonomy) or is it more politically convenient to demonstrate their dependence on the central government decisions.
