ABSTRACT
An overview of the development of local government in Kosovo is provided, investigating electoral results from 2000–2017. The dynamics between local and national political actors is discussed along with election legislation and its application in practice, ethnicity and its ramifications for the functionality of local government and governance, gender equality, and voter turnout. The local party systems resemble Kosovo’s national party system – an antecedent predominance of national candidate lists in certain localities constitutes a barrier to nonnational alternatives. It is also shown that turnout for local elections is slightly higher than for national elections and that municipal turnout decreases with increasing population size. Finally, the chapter discusses the ethnic ramifications of local governance. The focus of international and national actors has been the utilization of decentralization as an instrument for political integration of the relatively small minorities, granting particular powers to them and thus creating an asymmetry of municipal competences and disparity among municipalities.
