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Drawing on theories from social constructivism and political science, the argument of my paper, based on my ongoing PhD research, focuses on two points. How risks – defined using a territorial approach as the confrontation between possibilities of an accident and various stakes (social, economic, cultural, environmental or patrimonial) – are tolerated as part of a complex urban network system and fully integrated as a metropolitan policy. How risks management – defined as a cross-sector public policy integrating civil security, environmental or health policies – represents a space of political and administrative conflicts between traditional responsibilities of the Central State (civil security) and local professionalisation in the fields of environment management, economical development or urban planning.

Drawing on theories from social constructivism and political science, the argument of my paper, based on my ongoing PhD research, focuses on two points. How risks – defined using a territorial approach as the confrontation between possibilities of an accident and various stakes (social, economic, cultural, environmental or patrimonial) – are tolerated as part of a complex urban network system and fully integrated as a metropolitan policy. How risks management – defined as a cross-sector public policy integrating civil security, environmental or health policies – represents a space of political and administrative conflicts between traditional responsibilities of the Central State (civil security) and local professionalisation in the fields of environment management, economical development or urban planning.

Drawing on theories from social constructivism and political science, the argument of my paper, based on my ongoing PhD research, focuses on two points. How risks – defined using a territorial approach as the confrontation between possibilities of an accident and various stakes (social, economic, cultural, environmental or patrimonial) – are tolerated as part of a complex urban network system and fully integrated as a metropolitan policy. How risks management – defined as a cross-sector public policy integrating civil security, environmental or health policies – represents a space of political and administrative conflicts between traditional responsibilities of the Central State (civil security) and local professionalisation in the fields of environment management, economical development or urban planning.

Drawing on theories from social constructivism and political science, the argument of my paper, based on my ongoing PhD research, focuses on two points. How risks – defined using a territorial approach as the confrontation between possibilities of an accident and various stakes (social, economic, cultural, environmental or patrimonial) – are tolerated as part of a complex urban network system and fully integrated as a metropolitan policy. How risks management – defined as a cross-sector public policy integrating civil security, environmental or health policies – represents a space of political and administrative conflicts between traditional responsibilities of the Central State (civil security) and local professionalisation in the fields of environment management, economical development or urban planning.

The article presents selected aspects being a consequence of the evolution of local government in Poland. The main attention is focused on the presentation of the structure and competences of the municipal council, in the context of systemic changes of local government. The article is of a review nature character and its aim is to diagnose organisational solutions concerning the municipal council in Poland. The main premise of the article implies that the process of evaluation of the structure and functioning of the municipal council is conditioned by involvement of the local residents who experience its influence on their daily lives, including meeting their needs. Decentralisation and participation of local community members in local government structures such as the municipal council or other bodies are key issues in civil society development. The process of local government evolution has not been completed and localgovernment organisation and functionality does not deviate from European standards.

The 2016 Omani Municipal Council election was held in the backdrop of the economic problems facing the Gulf States due to the decline in international oil prices. Hence, the cut in social security and continued concerns over economy were major issues. This was partly responsible for a low turnout, though a free and fair election was an important takeaway. In comparison to the previous municipal council election, more female candidates were elected and joined the council in 2016. Whereas various encouraging developments can be assuaged including the evolution of the electoral process, growing participation of women, and use of new state-of-the-art technology, the pace of democratization remains painfully slow.

As decentralisation reforms devolved greater responsibilities to local governments, improving local governance has become central to strengthening democracy. With the promise of increasing citizen representation and government transparency at the local level, in 2015 El Salvador implemented a new electoral system. The new system allowed for the election of opposition parties in municipal councils for the first time. In the context of El Salvador, we examine how opposition parties' numerical representation influences the views of governing and opposition party members about multi-party councils' effectiveness to improve local governance. To test our hypotheses, we rely on data from an original elite survey of 303 municipal councillors in 101 municipalities, which we complement with qualitative information. Contrary to what the literature suggests, we do not find evidence that a stronger opposition leads to more negative evaluations among members of governing parties, notwithstanding the country's polarised party system. (JPLA/GIGA)