Direct Elections of Mayors (Lord Mayors) and Governors and Their Possible Impact on the Performance of Public Administration

This paper is dedicated to the issue of one of the means and forms for direct democracy, i.e. "direct elections" of mayors and governors, and the possibilities and limits to its implementation in the existing system of elections in the municipalities and regions of the Czech Republic. From the point of view of the direct election of mayors (lord mayors) and governors, attention usually focusses on the change in the status of directly elected mayors (governors) in relation to the municipal (regional) council, the matter of "strengthening" their mandate and the necessity of explicitly defining their (exclusive) jurisdiction. The problem also arises in association with the method of "dismissing" directly elected mayors (governors) from office. Their dismissal by the municipal (regional) council would be at odds with the principle of the direct election. A further section of this paper is dedicated to the option of using the experience from those states which already have direct mayoral elections, especially the legislative regulation of the direct mayoral elections in Slovakia.