FUNCTIONING CONDITIONS, ACTIVITY AND CITIZENS’ APPRAISAL OF THE TERRITORIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A CITY WITH COUNTY RIGHTS ILLUSTRATED WITH THE EXAMPLE OF PRZEMYŚL
FUNCTIONING CONDITIONS, ACTIVITY AND CITIZENS’ APPRAISAL OF THE TERRITORIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A CITY WITH COUNTY RIGHTS ILLUSTRATED WITH THE EXAMPLE OF PRZEMYŚL

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the present article is the activity of the territorial self-government in a town with county rights. We will aim to present the conditions in which Polish self-government was formed and how it functions at present, focusing particularly on the functioning conditions of a city with county rights in Eastern Poland, socalled Poland B. We will consider both the functioning conditions of self-government which may be characteristic to self-governments throughout Poland, its eastern part as well as the conditions specific to the self-government of Przemyśl. This will involve examining economic conditions as well as historical, geopolitical, legal and social ones. We will begin with a brief analysis of the concept of self-governance and the long way Polish democracy has come from the beginning if its existence until the present system. Then, we will present the functioning conditions of one of the cities with county rights in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship and discuss its activity, citizens’ appraisal as well as the initiatives undertaken by its citizens and by the citizens of its surrounding areas. The suggested categories of conditions include both internal and external ones. They are all interdependent. As the analyses presented in this article indicate, the formation and functioning of Przemyśl self-government were influenced not only by its geopolitical location but also by Austrian Partition, Polish Peoples’ Republic, administrative reform of 1999 and its multinational character. What is more, currently, the funds obtained from the European Union have a significant influence on the development of self-government in Przemyśl, and also throughout Poland. However, the way they are used must be constantly monitored and adopted to local conditions and needs. In the analyses we have used i.a. the results of surveys conducted in 2010 for the purposes of a project entitled “Przemyśl in Public Opinion”, and also Polish nationwide study on communes carried out in 2013 by Grzegorz Gorzelak and Bohdan Jałowiecki’s team. Moreover, data included in the strategic documents on the development of Przemyśl has also been used.

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