Elity administracyjne na Górnym Śląsku w latach 1990–1997 Przyczynek do studium przypadku

Abstract

This article traces the administrative elite of the Upper Silesian region of Poland in the transition period of 1990–1997. In 1990, despite its perceived ineffectiveness, the administrative reform was introduced at the local level, while the two higher levels of district and region were left untouched, on the grounds that simultaneous reform on all three levels might destabilise the state. The article examines the administrative actors of the region, their attitudes, and the shifts in their policies over time, in two types of institutions: the reformed local government, and the regional-level voivodship office headed by the voivode – which remains unreformed, despite the wish for reform of the voivode himself and other members of the regional elite. The local-level reform established communes as elected self-governing units, bringing to an end their subordination to higher levels and leading to an increase in their administrative capacity and efficiency. At the regional level, the article focuses on the impact of two voivodes. The first is the ‘revolutionary’ Wojciech Czech, who proposed radical administrative reforms and wished to renew the Silesian ‘lost values’. The second is his ‘Bourbon’ successor, Ciszak, who wished to continue the socialist status quo in order to maintain the prominent position of the regional elite and the special status of the region built on its heavy industry. The paper also examines various attempts to reform the regional administration, most notably the so-called ‘regional contract’ between Katowice and Warsaw, signed in October 1995. The analysis ends at the time of the national election of 1997. This marked a watershed of the transition period, as the decision to conclude administrative reform at both district and regional levels was taken. The analysis of attitudes is supplemented by an investigation of recruitment patterns, the striking feature of which is the mobilisation of the native Silesian population, resulting in their predominance in the regional elite. This is in striking contrast to the inter-war and socialist periods, when ‘newcomers’ – Poles from other regions – accounted for the majority of the regional elite. Moreover, a radical change of personnel in senior administrative positions took place in the early nineties during the revolutionary period, which probably also had an impact on the radicalism of policies formulated at the time. In contrast, during the next period – restoration – the exchange of personnel was minor. However, people from the old communist regime returned to inner elite positions.