Different Mechanisms of Representation? Explaining Local Politics without Competition, Plurality and Parties in Brandenburg and the Czech Republic

Almost over the entire existence of political science, many authors have drawn attention to the diversity of communal politics in small municipalities, emphasizing its pragmatic and apolitical character. In particular law-oriented authors have long questioned the importance of political parties at the local level, or even a representative nature of elected local governments. At the time of pervasive changes in political communication, political values, leadership and institutionalization of political actors, the time has come to verify how the local politics in small municipalities has/has not changed, both with regard to the actual role of these political systems, as well as the character of representation and participation. At the same time, due to successful amalgamation reforms, small municipalities do not exist in a large variety of countries, which unfortunately brings the outlined issue outside the mainstream of political science discussions. The presented paper will explore the mechanisms of representation and participation on the case of the Czech Republic, exhibiting the most fragmented municipal structure in Europe, and Brandenburg, which - owing to demographic problems - encounters problems with effective consolidation of a municipal structure. In accordance with our assumptions, specificity of representation and participation becomes primarily evident in the most deviant local political systems, void of competition, plurality, or political parties.