Local sub-decentralization and sub-municipal divisions in Slovenia

Since independence gained in 1991, local self-government reform has been considered one of the most important projects of the Slovenian state. A key aspect was the introduction of different forms of local democracy and sub-municipal units into the newly established units of local government. The main goal of this paper is to analyse the process of sub-decentralization - the establishment of sub-municipal units of local government. The paper emphasizes their level of autonomy, which is dependent upon the size of municipality. We will assume that the establishment of sub-municipal units is one of the ways to increase public participation at the municipal level, and analyse: a) why municipalities undertake sub-municipal divisions that are entirely dependent upon their decisionsand b) how the level of sub-municipalautonomy is dependent upon the municipal size. The hypothesis was examined using a survey of 80 Slovenian municipalities and analysis of statistical data acquired from the National Statistical OfficeOd stjecanja neovisnosti 1991. godine, reforma lokalne samouprave smatra se jednim od najvažnijih projekata slovenske države. Kljucni dio reforme bio je uvođenje razlicitih oblika lokalne demokracije i mjesne samouprave u novoosnovane jedinice lokalne samouprave. Glavni cilj ovog rada jest analizirati proces subdecentralizacije, tj. proces osnivanja jedinica mjesne samouprave. U radu se naglašava razina njihove autonomije koja ovisi o velicini lokalne jedinice. Pretpostavili smo da je osnivanje jedinica mjesne samouprave jedan od nacina da se poveca sudjelovanje građana u lokalnoj razinivlasti i analizirali: a) zašto lokalne jedinice poduzimaju osnivanje jedinica mjesne samouprave koje u potpunosti ovise o njihovim odlukama, te b) na koji nacin razina autonomije jedinica mjesne samouprave ovisi o velicini jedinica lokane samouprave. Hipotezu smo ispitivali koristeci anketu provedenuu 80 slovenskih lokalnih jedinica i analizu statistickih podataka dobivenih od Državnog ureda za statistik