Sociology and Space, No. 135-138, 1997.
Original scientific paper
Local Government in the Period of Reconstruction
Dušica Seferagić
Nataša Lončar Butić
Abstract
The article is based on sociological
research into local government in areas
under reconstruction, including the town
of Petrinja and four surrounding villages.
Research was carried out in 1996 and
1997. The authors started from the
hypothesis, which has been proved in
world literature, that local government is
important, and that its importance grows
with a lower level of development, and
greater problems of life quality.
Reconstruction is certainly a problem of
this kind. The basic hypothesis was that
the twin system of local government and
reconstruction is organized hierarchically,
which prevents the inhabitants/returnees
from influencing the elementary
conditions of their life and reconstruction
through the normal chain of territorial
organization. This leads to social anomy
and unfinished reconstruction.
Unfortunately, the results confirm this
hypothesis. Problems of the global system
loom over local government: the economic
collapse, the impossibility of finding a job,
of earning money and organizing life in a
war-struck area. It thus seems, for the
present at least, that the reconstruction of
this area has not succeeded, both in the
socio-economic sense and in issues of
democratic development.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
119947
URI
Publication date:
12.12.1997.
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