Citizen Participation in Decision-Making Processes in Local Government in Poland: a Brief Report

1979 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 67-73
Author(s):  
Jerzy Wroblewski ◽  
Sylwester Zawadski
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Participation In Decision Making

Directly Elected Mayors vs. Council Appointed Mayors – Which Effects on Local Government Systems?

2016 ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
María Jesús García García ◽  
Alessandro Sancino
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Structure ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Electoral Law

This chapter compares the Italian and the Spanish case discussing the influence of having elected or appointed mayors on local government systems. Five elements of the local government systems are compared: the electoral system and its influences on the political composition of the local government; the local government structure and the distribution of functions and powers between Mayor and council; the role of political parties; scrutiny of executive and accountability; citizen participation. Our comparative analysis highlights that overall directly elected mayors have ensured better efficiency in terms of quicker and faster decision making processes, even if mostly at the expenses of democratic representation. Having direct or appointed mayors also impacted on accountability and legitimacy patterns. However, all these effects depended not only on the way mayor is elected, but mostly on other mechanisms, such as, for example, the strong majority prize provided by the electoral law and the bond of coexistence existing between the mayor and the council.

scholarly journals Citizen-oriented Local Governance: the Correlation between Subjective Well-being and Citizen Participation in the Salaspils Municipality (Latvia) Case

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-36
Author(s):  
Inga Jēkabsone ◽  
Biruta Sloka
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Participation In Decision Making

The aim of the paper is to present a possible citizen- oriented governance model and discuss the outcomes of empirical research, which are targeted to municipalities and are based on the approbation of a subjective well-being methodology. The main findings of the study show that citizen participation in decision-making processes is crucial in order to improve the well-being in the municipality. The empirical research of the Salaspils municipality and comparisons with several other municipalities in Latvia and other countries demonstrated that the citizen-oriented local governance model provides wide opportunities for improved dialogue between the municipality and society, which in turn promotes the development of a co-responsibility approach in resolving different issues within the municipality.

scholarly journals Differentiating Participation: Identifying and Defining Civic Capacities Used by Latino Immigrants in Participatory Budgeting

2021 ◽  
pp. 153568412199347
Author(s):  
José W. Meléndez ◽  
Maria Martinez-Cosio
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Participatory Planning ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
Participatory Budgeting ◽  
Civic Discourse ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Civic Skills ◽  
Budgeting Process

Participatory planning has faced challenges engaging predominantly Spanish-speaking immigrants beyond the bottom rungs of Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation. Participating at any level of the ladder requires individual civic skills, or capacities, that are integral to participatory processes. However, the specific skills necessary for collective action are less certain, due in part to a lack of clear definitions and a lack of clarity about how these capacities work in practice. Drawing on two years of data from a participatory budgeting process in an immigrant community in Chicago, Illinois, the authors identify key civic capacities that Spanish-speaking immigrants activated while engaging in civic discourse, and they explore the role these capacities played in moving ideas toward collective decision making. The authors present an organizational schema that aligns the study’s findings of 17 unique civic capacities with capacities identified in the literature as helping participants engage more meaningfully in decision-making processes.

Evolution of e-participation in Greek local government

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Constantina Costopoulou ◽  
Maria Ntaliani ◽  
Filotheos Ntalianis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Community ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact

Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.

scholarly journals Affective Effect: Issue Engagement on a Youth E-Participation Platform

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Lampoltshammer ◽  
Qinfeng Zhu ◽  
Peter Parycek
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Common Type ◽  
System Level ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
Intelligence Theory ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Research Gap

While E-participation promotes citizen participation in democratic decision-making processes, and often takes place through deliberation, citizens are expected to be cool-headed individuals equipped with reason and logic, insulating their actions from the impulse of emotion. However, research in neuroscience and cognitive science has found that emotion plays a vital part in cognitive processing and is instrumental in decision-making. This study thus fills this research gap by examining the effect of emotions in eliciting participation on a youth E-participation platform. Following affective intelligence theory and appraisal theory, the authors specifically examined three types of emotions; namely, anger, anxiety, and sadness. By applying methods in the field of text and statistical analysis, the authors found that anxiety, although the least common type of emotion expressed on the E-participation platform, was associated with an increased level of engagement. On the contrary, anger dominated issue discussion across topics, and sadness prevailed in the discourse on system-level economic issues.

scholarly journals Pasteloza – refurbishing of the PPR heritage

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Sara Nikolić
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Geometric Figures ◽  
State Administration ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The City ◽  
Housing Estates

Abstract Colourful zigzags, arcade game motifs, geometric figures, pseudo-frames of windows and even infantile drawings of flora and fauna – those are just some of the visible symptoms of the aesthetical and urbanistic chaotic condition also known as Polish pasteloza. One of the most common readings is that the excuse of thermal insulation is being (ab)used in order to radically erase the urbanistic, cultural and political heritage of Polish People’s Republic (PPR) from the city landscape. On the other hand, inhabitants of ‘pastelized’ housing estates claim to be satisfied not only with the insulation but also with their role in decision-making processes. A sense of alienation from one’s home seems to have gone away, together with the centralized state administration, and it is being replaced by citizen participation. The possibility of vindication of pasteloza’s ‘crimes against aesthetics’ will be deliberated in this paper – in order to pave a path for more complex understanding of this phenomenon that could offer a solution for achieving a compromise between aesthetics and civic participation in post-transition processes.

Current Features and Developments of Local Governance in Finland

2016 ◽  
pp. 304-327
Author(s):  
Hanna Vakkala ◽  
Jaana Leinonen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Structural Reforms ◽  
Local Democracy

This chapter discusses local governance renewals and the recent development of local democracy in Finland. Due to profound structural reforms, the role of municipalities is changing, which is challenging current local government processes, from management to citizen participation. Nordic local self-government is considered strong, despite of tightening state steering. Ruling reform politics and the increasing amount of service tasks do not fit the idea of active local governance with sufficient latitude for decision-making. To increase process efficiency, electronic services and governance have been developed nationally and locally, and solutions of eDemocracy have been launched to support participation. Developing participative, deliberative democracy during deep renewals creates opportunities but also requires investments, which create and increase variation between municipalities. From the point of view of local democracy, it becomes interesting how strong municipal self-governance and local governance renewals meet and how the role and status of municipalities are changing.

Citizen Consultaions via Government Web Sites

2011 ◽  
pp. 163-168
Author(s):  
M. Holzer ◽  
R. W. Schwester
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Government Web Sites ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Traditional Structures

Cynicism toward government is largely a function of trust and social capital (Berman 1997; Putnam 2000). The relationship between government and its citizens has been strained. First, some citizens cynically feel as though government officials abuse their powers in the interest of self-aggrandizement; second, citizens often feel disconnected from government; third, government service delivery is frequently portrayed as inadequate. Administrative strategies to reverse these perceptions typically emphasize the benefits of government and improved service delivery. Some go further, offering individuals a means of influencing public policy and government decision-making, as opposed to traditional structures and cultures of policymaking that minimize citizen input. The Internet is a potentially powerful means for citizen consultation, and may help cultivate a governmental landscape in which information is more accessible, people feel more connected to government, and citizens are better able to participate in political and decision-making processes. This article examines the Internet as a consultative medium, whereby emphasis is placed on government efforts to use Web-based applications as a means of promoting meaningful citizen participation.

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