Changes in local democracy are necessary for successful local-global convergence and for the inclusion of local communities into globalisation processes. Bearing this in mind, the text analyzes the reform of local government in Slovenia. Drawing on statistical indicators and performance analysis of (new) municipalities, the author concludes that the reform was unsuccessful. As a result, state centralism increased, while (overly) small municipalities are faced with a consistent lack in development capacities, and often caught up in kleptocrat particularistic interests of local elites. In the short term, new micro-localisms that emerged as a consequence of the reform have acted as efficient mechanisms of infrastructural development of the new municipalities. In the long run, however, if no regions are formed, they are an obstacle to future socio-spatial development. It is therefore high time for a transition from localisms to new regionalisms. The second part of the text analyzes the failure of the reform of local government through a case study of the City Municipality of Maribor, where, due to kleptocrat activities of municipal political elites, it led to the Maribor - and later the all-Slovenian - uprising.
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