Samodzielność finansowa gmin w Polsce w kontekście koncepcji good governance
Financial autonomy of Polish communes and good governance

Summary/Abstract: Goal – The purpose of the paper is to analyse the degree (the scope) of financial autonomy ofPolish communes from the perspective of good governance. The authors attempt to answer the followingquestion: Is the extent of financial autonomy of communes consistent with the scope of good governance?Methods – The paper uses a descriptive method with elements of the legal analysis and thestatistical analysis of data regarding the budgetary standing of Polish communes in the years 2008-2017.Approach –This paper investigates issues associated with the financial autonomy of Polish localgovernment units (LGUs) in terms of good governance. In the respective sections of the paper, theauthors present the theoretical and legal aspects of LGUs' financial self-reliance, examine the conceptof good governance, analyse the financial situation of Polish communes, and attempt to assess the extentof their financial autonomy from the perspective of the various aspects of good governance.Findings – It is possible to conclude that financial autonomy of communes is not a fixed category.Despite the process of decentralisation, it is constrained by a number of different factors (e.g. theactivity of state authorities) and determined by the financial standing of individual LGUs. The analysisof the scope of communes' financial autonomy reveals that it is moderately correlated with suchaspects of good governance as: the rule of law, transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, partnership.

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