One of the main reforms in Poland after 1989 was creation of local government (community were created in 1990, counties and provinces since 1999,). The implementation of this reform, apart from benefits, also caused problems. The main point of this report is to identify defects. The selected information were analysed – scientific publications, expert reports and questionnaire results. The conclusions showed that the main problems of self-government are: too small autonomy of activity, overdone imposition of tasks without sufficient cash, unclear role of counties. The article also shows other problems that limit the possibilities of local government activities. We should spread the knowledge about the existence of obstacles to development management Knowledge. Common awareness of restrictions will help policy makers take right actions that meet the needs of the community in a given area. 

reform, local self-government, autonomy, administration, local development, regional development