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THE DYNAMICS OF LOCAL-GLOBAL RELATIONS 409

services. Local political leaders were targeted the 1990s is that local leaders in Sweden,
for interviews – mayors, deputy mayors, already at a high level of local democratic
council members, political party leaders, engagement, would move slightly forward in
and, if appropriate, heads of governmental their support for democratic values and prac-
administrative entities. A sample of about 15 tices; Poland would move forward somewhat;
was selected in each locality. 4 and Russia would vacillate, moving negatively
Data have now been gathered in 29 coun- in some ways and positively in others. In
tries, mostly in Eurasia but also Brazil and terms of overall commitment to democratic
the US. In several countries, especially those values, those expectations are supported.
that are former communist countries, data In terms of seeing conflicts in a developing
have been collected at two or three points in and strengthening democratic environment
time. Two countries – Poland and Russia – globally and nationally, the perceptions of
for which data are now available into the conflicts among local leaders, even the intense
twenty-first century will be the focus of ones that interfere with local political deci-
analysis in this chapter, with comparisons sions, increased significantly in regard to local
with Sweden, an established democracy. conflicts between 1995 and 2001(03) in
Data will be presented on the values and Poland and Russia; whereas in Sweden there
behavior of local political leaders from was a negligible increase in perceived local
these three countries which reflect different conflicts. Regarding social tolerance neces-
experiences with globalization and demo- sary for the value of democratic inclusion
cratic governance. The data are taken from (willingness to have various groups as neigh-
the beginning, the middle and the slowing bors), there was a dramatic drop in intolerance
down – 1991–2003 – of the most extensive among local political leaders between 1995
globalization and democratization periods in and 2001(03) in both Poland and Russia. This
human history. suggests that the impact of the global demo-
The results of the research show that the cratic changes in the 1990s was more endur-
global has an impact on local democratic ing in the social than in the political domains.
values and practices everywhere but the The institutionalization of the behaviour of
impact varies depending on past exposure to seeking support from many groups in the
globalization and alternatives open to politi- locality when making decisions, however,
cal leaders at the local level. The three coun- significantly declined from 1995 to 2001(03)
tries discussed here vary widely in their past in Poland and Russia, but increased in Sweden
general exposure to globalization and local as it moved to decentralization during that
democratic politics. Sweden, of course, is decade. These findings are presented in some
global and has options open to the global detail in what follows.
both in Europe and elsewhere. Poland had Poland and Russia were both dramatically
more exposure to globalization both before impacted by their rapid exposure to the
and after the demise of its communist politi- global system in 1989–1990. Poland was an
cal system, and had alternatives, at the time involved participant in European affairs prior
of this study, in the expanding European to the collapse of its communist political
institutions, most importantly, the European system. Once it became clear that it would be
Union. Russia, the successor state to the admitted to NATO and the EU, Poland insti-
former Soviet Union, had little general expo- tuted major political changes. It also had
sure to the global and nearly none to demo- experimented with different kinds of local
cratic political experiences. Nonetheless, all governance, and, when a new constitution
of these countries have been impacted in came into effect in 1990, chose a system with
some ways by globalization. The expectation decentralization and local autonomy that
from the general increase in exposures to is compatible with European standards as
globalization and democratization during developed by the EU but with more central