Any government intervention in the economy disrupts the natural market mechanism. One such intervention is the political cycle, which is based on maximizing the benefits of government politicians. Such interventions can be perceived not only at the national level but also in relation to local self - government. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impact of the political cycle on the financial management of local self - governments in a set of 69 district towns. The results of the analysis showed that it is not possible to clearly determine the political cycle in self-government, nor to demonstrate the impact of the political cycle on the financial management of district towns in the Slovak Republic.