The resilience of local democracy in Europe in face of contemporary crises: between decentralisation and recentralisation

2026, No. 2

SAN University (Warsaw, Poland)


Publication date

24.08.2026

Submission date

25.02.2026

Acceptance date

31.07.2026

Publishing model

open access

Field

Social sciences

Discipline

political and administrative sciences, international relations, sociology, law, economics and finance, management and quality studies, social communication and media studies

Language of publication

Polish

Number of views:12

Number of downloads:0

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0


Abstract

The article examines the role of local democracy in strengthening democratic resilience in Europe in face of contemporary crises. The author analyses how decentralisation and recentralisation affect the capacity of local authorities to respond to emergencies. The study applies an institutional and comparative analysis of the literature on democratic resilience, decentralisation and governance. The author considers the standards of the Council of Europe, the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the role of multi-level governance. Research results demonstrate that democratic resilience requires both the autonomy of local governance and effective cooperation between local, national and European levels.

Keywords:

Bibliography

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