An Elite in Transition

This book traces the administrative elite of the Upper Silesian region of Poland in the transition period of 1990-1997. It introduces the research by analysing the historical development in the higher administration of the region, up to the legacy of failure in the socialist era, specifically its excessive centralisation and vertical fragmentation.In 1990, despite its perceived ineffectiveness, administrative reform was introduced at the local level, while the two higher levels of district and region were left untouched, on the grounds that simultaneous reform on all three levels might destabilise the state. The book examines the administrative players of the region, their attitudes, and the shifts in their policies over time, in two types of institution, first, the reformed local government and second, the regional-level voivodship office headed by the voivode – which remained unreformed despite the wish for reform on the part of the voivode himself and other members of the regional elite.