Institutional Reform of the Croatian Local Government: From Cabinets to Directly Elected Mayors and County Governors
Institutional Reform of the Croatian Local Government: From Cabinets to Directly Elected Mayors and County Governors

Summary/Abstract: In this article the new Croatian model of ‘local presidential’ system is defined in its most important aspects concerning the electoral model, the position, the powers, the relationship with the local council, and the accountability of directly elected heads of municipalities, mayors and county governors. However, some aspects of the new system, e.g. the powers of the directly elected local executive, are still not defined, and some changes in the electoral system have already been adopted before its actual implementation. What could be preliminarily stated is that the Croatian model is a very specific model with certain features resembling other contemporary systems of ‘local presidentialism’ in Europe, but also with some peculiarities similar to the American model (particularly the model of electing mayor and deputy mayor on the same ticket), which point to the conclusion that the Croatian model is a new variant of the ‘local presidential’ system.

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