TY - GEN N1 - 24 cm N2 - Effective operating of local communities within a given area is to a large extent dependent upon the potential and capability of using local resources. One of the key assets and factors affecting local development is human capital rooted in a given community, particularly in local self-government authorities. The aim of this paper is to identify characteristic features attributed to the structure of local government representatives in rural areas of Poland. Spatial, temporal and functional variability of such structure have been considered. Description of analyzed space has been presented in the following aspects: interregional, diversification between historical regions as well as regarding intra-regional differences, considering the distance to large urban centers. The grounds for conducting analysis of diversity in the functional aspect has been provided by the functional structure of communes, allowing to distinguish 8 basic types of local economy. The time range taken into account encompassed terms of office for the period of 2002-2018. The subject matter of the study covered rural, urban-rural communes and town mayors including such characteristics as age, gender, type and education level as well as place of residence and stability of power. Obtained results allowed to identify a series of regularities regarding the diversity for each of the five listed features attributed to local authorities. Nonetheless, these patterns are less pronounced than in the case of residents’ electoral behavior diversity. L1 - http://www.rcin.org.pl/igipz/Content/75326/PDF/WA51_97305_r2018-t51_SOW-Mazur.pdf M3 - Text J2 - Studia Obszarów Wiejskich = Rural Studies, t. 51 PY - 2018 EP - 26 KW - electoral geography KW - self-government election KW - local authority KW - spatial model KW - Poland A1 - Mazur, Marcin (1982– ) A1 - Czapiewski, Konrad Ł. Autor A1 - Janc, Krzysztof. Autor A1 - Konopski, Michał. Autor PB - IGiPZ PAN PB - PTG VL - 51 CY - Warszawa SP - 7 T1 - Władza lokalna na obszarach wiejskich – zróżnicowanie w przestrzeni i zmiana w czasie profilu samorządowca = Local authorities in rural areas – diversification in space and change in the profile of self-government officials over time UR - http://www.rcin.org.pl/igipz/dlibra/publication/edition/75326 ER -