EUROPEAN FUNDS AS A NEW TOOL OF A LOCAL AUTHORIT Y. SELECTED CASE STUDIES OF MUNICIPAL LEADERS

• Authors: Agata Nijander-Dudzińska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Europeanization processes taking place in Poland have an impact on various areas and subjects of social life. An important direction of studies of these processes relates to their conduct and performance at the local level. Particularly interesting is one aspect of Europeanization, involving the use of EU funds. The emergence of EU funds has had a visible impact on various areas of life and actors at the local level, resulted in a significant extension of the tasks, but the actual making power of local government. In the analysis of transformation of local political cultures account for an important part in the activities undertaken by individual local actors of the ruling elitę. Opening up new sources of funding has created a new instrument of power, has opened new possibilities for action, but also new areas of conflict, control, responsibility for local government entities. Two cases of urban leaders discussed in the article demonstrate that political actors may adopt different strategies to aid funds. Referring to the concept of R. Merton, they can take a morę local orientation or present the character-istics of a cosmopolitan leader. The content of the effectiveness of strategies adopted by the municipal leaders to use EU funds depends on the functioning of the city's political culture, a system of forces and practices. European funds do not appear so in a vacuum, do not also create a completely new reality Be implemented in the field of urban policy, where there they found the actors, relationships, values and modify them, but it is difficult to consider them as a factor that causes rapid, revolutionary change.

Keywords

EN

Europeanization, EU funds, a local authority, city leaders, urban policy

• Publisher: AGH University of Science and Technology
• Journal: Studia Humanistyczne AGH
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4

Dates

published

2012

online

2013-12-17

Contributors

author

Agata Nijander-Dudzińska

Identifiers

DOI

10.7494/human.2012.11.4.211