Formation of regional governments as a problem of multilevel politics

Abstract

Along with the distribution of powers and resources, as well as mechanisms of interaction between authorities of different levels, the issue of formation of regional governments is an important problem of multilevel policy. From the point of view of the political and administrative “vertical”, each of the two main models – “appointment from above” and “elections from below” – has its
advantages and disadvantages. The analysis, based on the databases available to researchers, concludes that over the past 40 years, the ratio of the two models has been shifting in favor of “electability”: while 29% of states used this model in 1991, in 2023 it is already 48%. Obviously, this is due to the “third wave of democratization”, which was largely accompanied by decentralization.
After the end of the “third wave”, the increase in the share of “electability” stopped, and in the last decade, the ratio of the two models remained stable. At the same time, more than a third of the world’s states have been practising the model of “appointment” of regional authorities throughout the period under review. The analysis of databases also made it possible to identify their weaknesses and limitations, to outline the main directions for collecting additional systematized information on the
ways of formation of regional authorities.