Slovenian local elections 1994-2022: Why the total non-partisan dominance?

Elections to representative bodies are the basic tool for exercising power in democratic countries and the most recognisable external sign of democracy. Much ink has already been spilled about the institute of local elections and many scientific contributions have been written, which also applies to Slovenian local elections. In the analysis of the previous eight local elections, which have been held since 1994, the conclusion that local elections are somewhat underestimated and neglected compared to parliamentary elections is emphasised, as political parties have had lot less success at the local levels of authority. At the same time, it remains relatively unnoticed that local elections have a similar role and meaning to parliamentary elections, except that they are held on a significantly smaller territory, in significantly smaller communities and have a different substantive sign. However, local elections represent the most important influence of the inhabitants of the local community on the operation of the local self-government, therefore they represent the fundamental element of local democracy. In this paper we analyse the essential characteristics of the eight local elections in independent Slovenia so far, with an emphasis on the role of the non-partisan candidates and lists, influence of electoral systems, female/male ratio and instruments of positive discrimination.