Continuity of leadership in Slovenian local government: analysys of mayoral re-election

Simona Kukovic, Miro Hacek

Abstract


This paper analyses the political career of a key executive body in the Slovenian local self-government system – the mayor. The paper first introduces incumbency advantage theories. These theories argue that the probability of electoral victory or defeat is not homogeneously distributed among the candidates, as several factors influence the possibilities of success of some candidates and the failure of others (seniority, membership of political parties, electoral performance, etc). Based on an analysis of objective data and data from an empirical survey conducted among mayors of Slovenian municipalities, we look at the re-election of mayors in Slovenian local self-government with the emphasis on their seniority. We find that the re-election of mayors is a frequent occurrence in Slovenia and is a trend that is also increasing with every local election from 1998 onward.

Keywords


re-election; local elections; mayor; municipality; Slovenia

Full Text:

PDF

References


Botero, F. 2008, Ambition and Re-election: Theoretical Considerations (preliminary version), University of Arizona, Tucson.

Brezovšek, M., Haček, M. and Zver, M. 2008, Organizacija oblasti v Sloveniji, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana.

Cain, B.E., John, A. F. and Morris, P. F. 1987, The Personal Vote: Constituency Service and Electoral Independence, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Dahl, R.A. 1989, Democracy and Its Critics, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Finocchiaro, Ch.J. and Lin, T. 2000, The Hazards of Incumbency: An Event History Analysis of Congressional Tenure (Paper presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association).

Hibbing, J.R. 1991, Congressional Careers: Contours of Life in the U.S. House of Representatives, UNC Press Books, Chapel Hill.

Juvan Gotovac, V. 2000, Naloge župana. In Župan in občina, ed. Vlaj, Stane, Inštitut za lokalno samoupravo, Ljubljana.

Kavčič, I. and Grad, F. 2008, Ustavna ureditev Slovenije, GV Založba, Ljubljana.

King, G. and Zeng, L. 2000, Logistic Regression in Rare Events Data. Political Analysis 9 (2).

Krehbiel, K. 1991. Information and Legislative Organization, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.

Leoni, E., Pereira, C. and Renno, L. 2004, Political Survival Strategies: Political Career Decisions in Brasilian Chamber of Deputies. Journal of Latin American Studies 36 (1), pp. 109–130.

Mansbridge, Jane (2003) Rethinking Representation. American Political Science Review 97 (4), pp. 515–528.

Mayhew, D.R. 1974, Congress: The Electoral Connection, Yale University Press, New Haven.

McKelvey, R.D. and Reizman, R.G. 1992, Seniority in Legislatures. American Political Science Review 86 (4), pp. 951–965.

Polsby, N.W. (1968) The Institutionalization of the U.S. House of Representatives. American Political Science Review 62 (1), pp. 144–168.

Prašnikar, A. 2000, Župan, direktor občinske uprave, občinska uprava. In Župan in občina, ed. Vlaj, Stane, Inštitut za lokalno samoupravo, Ljubljana.

Przeworski, A. 1991, Democracy and the Market: Politic and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Przeworski, A., Stokes, S.C. and Manin, B. 1999, Democracy, Accountability and Representation, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Rae, D.W. 1967. The political consequences of electoral laws, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Raziskava “Župani in podžupani 2012”/Research Project “Mayors and Deputy-Mayors 2012”, Centre for Analysis of Administrative-Political Processes and Institutions, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana.

National Electoral Commission. 2012. Zgodovina volitev. Available at: http://www.dvk.gov.si/, March 18, 2012.

Local Self-Government Act (ZLS-UPB2). Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 94/2007. Available at: http://www.uradni-list.si/1/objava.jsp?urlid=200794andstevilka =4692, March 18, 2012.

Local Elections Act (ZLV-UPB3). Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 94/2007. Available at: http://www.uradni-list.si/1/objava.jsp?urlid=200794andstevilka=4693, March 18, 2012.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/k.2016.23.1.97
Date of publication: 2017-04-04 10:19:47
Date of submission: 2016-05-17 07:30:17


Statistics


Total abstract view - 958
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 445

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2017 Simona Kukovic, Miro Hacek

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.