Local Elections in Transition Societies: The Role of Party Promises

Studies of local democracy in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe are relatively rare, and to the extent that they exist, they focus on two areas: description of legal developments pertinent to decentralization and surveys of the political culture and support for democracy among sub-national leaders. Especially missing are studies of whether, to what extent and why local officials make promises during election campaigns, and the role of this promise-making for enhancing democracy at the sub-national level. This study begins to address this research gap by investigating the role of party promises during local elections in Bulgaria. The focus of the study are elected local and municipal leadership officials who won (re)election during the October 25, 2015 elections, and it utilizes survey questionnaire distributed to 400 mayors and council members. The study discusses whether and to what extent such leaders make election promises during local campaigns, and how are such promises linked to the most pressing issues facing their municipality. It also addresses whether promise-making enhances the local leader’s sense of political autonomy and efficacy. The survey results are supplemented by content analysis of election promises at the local level issued for the first time in 2015.