Fragmentation and Consolidation Reform in Slovakia

Local government reform is a long-standing topic that appears in regular four-year election cycles. In general, the systems of connecting municipalities are presented in the form of voluntary - bottom-up approach or central - top-down approach. The aim of this paper is to assess the views of mayors elected in the 8th election cycle on merging current municipalities and consolidation reform. On a sample of 448 mayors across Slovakia, we focused on the impact of current events and views on the feasibility of measures that would lead to the consolidation of the number and more efficient self-government in Slovakia. The results of the research indicate a persistent reluctance to merge, the representatives do not find significant advantages in merging, on the contrary, in smaller municipalities with less than 500 inhabitants, there is a fear of losing investments in favor of a larger municipality.