Intra-Municipal Units in Urban Political Systems in Poland: Vicious Roundabout of Marginalization or Dead-End Street ?

Neighbourhood / district councils exist in most big Polish cities. But their position in city politics is very weak, although differences among individual cities may be easily identified. There is also a low citizen interest in neighbourhood councils. The article tests a model to explain the variation among the cities and discusses the negative feedback between the dis-engagement of citizens and the narrow set of functions delegated to neighbourhoods. It asks the question if breaking that negative feedback is possible.