Local Elections Without Competition, Plurality and Parties? Case Studies of the Czech Republic and Brandenburg

At a time of pervasive changes in political communication, political values, leadership, and institutionalization of political actors, the need to verify more accurately how local politics in small municipalities work emerges. Both regarding the actual role of these political systems and the character of representation and participation. This article explores the mechanisms of representation and participation in the case of the Czech Republic, exhibiting the most fragmented municipal structure in Europe, and the German federal state of Brandenburg, which, owing to demographic problems, encounters problems with effectively consolidating its municipal structure. In accordance with our assumptions, the specificity of representation and participation becomes primarily evident in the most deviant local political systems, void of competition, plurality, or political parties.