Features of the influence of local leadership on public dministration: european experience for Ukraine

Abstract

A critical question on the minds of many researchers is whether local leadership can influence democratic governance. All societies are characterized by a division of labor, which in turn presupposes a certain form of leadership and an asymmetrical division of power. Moreover, modern democratic societies are built on a foundation of complex and specialized institutions and structures, interconnected by vast formalized hierarchies that must be effectively managed. Therefore, a kind of inevitable paradox arises: societies based on the principle of equality between citizens. At the same time, they assume the existence of elite groups that have greater powers to manage social processes and the state compared to ordinary citizens. The article examines the features of the influence of local leadership on public administration in different strategies, in particular, in the implementation of a pan-European policy. In addition, in adapting the European experience in Ukraine, we will use the following analogies: EU - Ukraine, national European leadership - local Ukrainian leadership. This can be done with a certain degree of assumption, since in both the first and second cases we are talking about the influence of leadership of a smaller territorial level on the politics of a larger territorial level. Of course, each national leadership has its own characteristics according to various indicators, ranging from gender ratio to management style, but analyzing the process of influence of national leadership on EU policy. Therefore, the author of the article, summarizing, focuses on the fact that the main instrument of influence of local leadership on public administration is lobbying, and almost exclusively in a formalized form. The European leadership discussed in the article is highly dynamic; its composition is often formed from temporary representatives of national leadership, which contributes in the future to the return of local leaders to public administration at the national level to defend the interests of their own state along with pan-European interests. It is advisable to use such experience both in conditions of martial law in Ukraine and in the context of integration processes into the European Union.