Autori u tekstu propituju povijest razvoja lokalne samouprave u Hrvatskoj od samih početaka do danas. U tom smislu, rabe pravnopovijesnu metodu i daju presjek razvoja te institucije s naglaskom na normativnu regulaciju unutar zadnjih 30-tak godina. Rad ukazuje na temeljne nedostatke u razvoju lokalne samouprave koji se moraju prevladati kako bi ona bila učinkovitija. The authors question the history of the development of local self-government in Croatia from the very beginning to the present day. In that sense, they use the legal-historical method and give a cross-section of the institutions’ development with an emphasis on normative regulation within the last 30 years. The paper points to fundamental drawbacks in the development of local self-government that must be overcome in order to make it more effective.