Mayors learning across borders: The international networks of municipalities in East-Central Europe

Abstract:

A process of bottom-up integration is taking place in Europe. Regions and cities are establishing direct contacts and co-operative arrangements across national borders. The participation in cross-border networks may require certain political and institutional capacities that not all local and regional authorities may possess to the same extent. The purpose of this article is to investigate to what extent East-Central European (Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) municipalities participate in networks of this kind, and to identify the factors that drive their participation. Around half of the municipalities investigated are involved in cross-border contacts, defined as visits to foreign municipalities, twinning arrangements and visits from foreign experts. These contacts are overwhelmingly with municipalities in West European countries and predominantly with neighbouring countries. Historical ties and geographical proximity explain much of the pattern. At the level of individual municipalities contact frequencies are driven by various opportunity structures, such as centrality and access to information networks. Educated and 'modern' mayors are more eager to pursue international travel to foreign municipalities.