ABSTRACT
One of the most important tasks facing Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia is to carry through local government reforms. Their goal is the further democratisation and decentralisation of state power and administration, to improve the quality of public services rendered to the local residents and involve them in the process of administration (Vanags & Vilka, 2003a, b). Latvia’s local government system has two levels. At the beginning of 2005
the lower level comprised 444 rural municipalities (pagasts), 53 town municipalities (pilseta), seven republican city municipalities (republikas nozimes pilseta) and 26 area municipalities (novads, or amalgamated town and rural municipalities formed since 1998 through administrativeterritorial reform). The upper level is made up of 26 district governments
(rajons) and the seven republican city municipalities. The cities are thus included in both levels of local government. The average population of the municipalities in Latvia is 4,300 (Vanags & Vilka, 2005). In Estonia and Lithuania the local government system consists of only
one level. In December 1993 the Lithuanian government approved a draft that proposed 56 local governments. This was implemented in 1995, replacing the former two-level local government system of 581 local governments. There are also ten counties, which are territorial institutions of state administration, without elected councils. As a result of these reforms the average population of municipalities in Lithuania is over 65,000, the second largest in Europe (Beksta & Petkevicius, 2000). In Estonia there are 202 rural municipalities (vald) and 39 town
municipalities (linn) (Tonnisson & Wilson, 2005). Estonia has rather small municipalities – the average population is 5,500. There are also 15 counties (districts), that are not self-governing local authorities, but are units of state institution in which the executive power lies with the county governor (maavanem) who is subordinate to the central government.
