Localism in political dynamics of modern Europe: the case of Lithuania

In the article, the authors refer to the phenomenon of localism as one of the manifestations of the process of fragmentation of the political space, one of the important features of the cultural and political dynamics in the modern world. In Europe, this is manifested in a noticeable increase in the importance of local political movements, which is partly due to the dynamics of the world economy, the visible manifestations of which determine the political choice and behavior of various social actors. Stagnation in the economy, increasing social differentiation and polarization, and the erosion of the middle class are causing voter disappointment in «historical» political parties, volatility in the party structure and voter preferences. In this study, the authors study the recent experience of one of the post-socialist countries - Lithuania. As a result of the reform of the electoral legislation since 2015, non-partisan lists of local residents - public electoral committees (PEC) - were admitted to the municipal elections in Lithuania. An important feature of PEC is their short life cycle, they cease to exist with the end of the election campaign. The authors analyzed the key positions declared in the election programs of 113 PEC in the municipal elections in 2015 and 2019. The geography of PEC participation and support is expanding. In 2019, they were represented in 47 local governments and collectively received 27.8% of the vote, more than any other party. Large cities turned out to be the most receptive to the innovative institution of the electoral process. The key factors influencing the success of the PEC are the degree of fragmentation of the electoral space of the municipality, the presence of a strong leader at the head of the list, running in parallel for the post of mayor. The case of Lithuania showed an increase of support for local political movements in Europe due to the overflow of voters from national parties. However, institutional constraints (short life cycle, lack of access to higher decision-making levels) reduce the potential of local movements to overcome local problems. Thus, in the competition of political agents of different scales with opposite trends in electoral support a new conflict for the political dynamics of modern Europe is born.

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