scholarly journals Cooperation Between Local Government and Non- Governmental Organizations as a Platform for The Development of Social Dialogue

Author(s):  
Agnieszka Smalec ◽  
Agata Niemczyk ◽  
Renata Seweryn

The independence of territorial self-governments in the process of implementing the tasks imposed on them does not mean that they have to implement them independently. Achieving the assumed goals of action often requires skillful cooperation with other entities, including non- governmental organizations. Local government is the closest partner of non-governmental organizations, not only through action in the local community, but above all through a community of purpose, which is to meet the needs of residents. NGOs represent the local community. The basis for the functioning of the state is social dialogue. The guarantee of successful cooperation between partners is cooperation based, on the one hand, on the awareness of local governments of jointly diagnosing and solving local problems, and on the other ‒ on the awareness of non-governmental organizations to jointly implement their goals. It should be emphasized that territorial self-government ‒ fulfilling statutory tasks and non- governmental organizations (voluntary associations of people devoting their time and energy to achieve social goals) are two different types of entities. Dialogue and cooperation between them should aim to integrate and mobilize entities to improve the quality of life in small homelands. The main goal of the article is therefore to draw attention to the importance of cooperation between territorial self-governments and non-governmental organizations in order to achieve positive results. It emphasizes the principles on which such cooperation should be based. The areas of this cooperation were indicated, giving examples of practices. The work mainly uses the desk research method in the form of literature analysis, reports and exploitation of online resources, as well as case analysis.

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 1668-1694 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN-PAUL FAGUET

AbstractI examine decentralization through the lens of the local dynamics it unleashed in Bangladesh. I argue that the national effects of decentralization are largely the sum of its local-level effects. Hence, to understand decentralization, we must first understand how local government works. This implies analysing not only decentralization, but also democracy, from the bottom up. I present a model of local government responsiveness as the product of political openness and substantive competition. The quality of politics, in turn, emerges endogenously as a joint product of the lobbying and political engagement of local firms/interests, and the organizational density and ability of civil society. I then test these ideas using qualitative data from Bangladesh. The evidence shows that civic organizations worked with non-governmental organizations and local governments to effect transformative change from the grass roots upwards—not just to public budgets and outputs, but to the underlying behaviours and ideas that underpin social development. In the aggregate, these effects were powerful. The result, key development indicators show, is Bangladesh leap-frogging past much wealthier India between 1990 and 2015.


1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 565-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
H T Jensen ◽  
V Plum

Several countries in Western Europe have experienced a restructuring of local and regional government. In Scandinavia local government has been a cornerstone in the building of the welfare society. In the last couple of years Poland (and other Eastern European countries) has been restructured to reduce the central state and to give more power to the private sector and the local government. It is argued that coordination at the local-government level is important for a relevant economic and political response to local problems. A framework is provided for an understanding of the development of the central and local states at the cost of activities performed earlier by the family and the local community, but also as a support (in service and regulation) to activities of the private sector. Second, it is argued that the new EC slogan, ‘a Europe of regions’, has the purpose of strengthening the regional level economically and politically and thereby of dismantling and weakening the national state in order to strengthen the EC. Third, the problems and scope of the Polish local-government reform are illustrated, from vertical control to horizontal coordination. There are difficulties in building powerful local governments at a time when they have nearly no money and are unable to provide the social services which used to be provided through the state firms. There is now a political vacuum for which the upcoming new private sector and the new local governments fight.


Author(s):  
Piotr Swacha ◽  
Jacek Wojnicki

One of the most important steps in the transition from the so-called “real socialism” to democracy was the process of administrative decentralization. In less than ten years, after the “round table” agreements, Polish parliament was able to introduce reforms that changed the structure of local governments. It created three tiers of self-governments and provided redistribution of authority, responsibility, tasks and competences between the government (and their institutions) and local governments. The first aim of the article is to present this process and indicate crucial decisions and actions made by Polish parliament. The second part of the article is mainly based on the results of a research made by CBOS and non-governmental organizations. The data shows how the local government has been perceived during the last two decades by Poles, it brings the information about a sense of influence on local affairs, the importance of local elections, trust in local authorities, belief in the influence of local authorities on local development, perception of the role and autonomy of local authorities. The second part of the article also contains secondary analysis of data on voting turnout in Polish local elections.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Ahmad Robi Ulzikri

South Lampung is one of the areas that still upholds customary and cultural values. Including one of them is in terms of preserving the environment. On the other hand, development in the area continues. However, the development discourse initiated by local governments, both district and provincial, often conflicts with the interests of local communities. One of them is the refusal, such as the local community and non-governmental organizations in the Rajabasa sub-district of South Lampung, against the exploitation of sand in the waters of the Anak Krakatau mountain by a private company that has obtained a permit from the provincial government. This study aims to determine the perspective of local non-governmental organizations and local governments in interpreting the existence of natural resources in the regions. The research method used is qualitative with a discourse analysis approach. Data collection comes from literature studies such as books, journals and news. The results show that the community has a perspective in looking at natural resources in the area, namely that they must maintain the status quo by assessing that natural resources need to be preserved as local wisdom without exploitation while the government assesses natural resources through proper exploration of natural resources. in fact, it can optimize regional income and create welfare for the community


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 243
Author(s):  
Elimartati Elimartati

This research analyzes the policy of local government and people of Tanah Datar Regency in exploiting its potential, opportunity, human resources and challenges in increasing money waqf empowerment. The research method used was qualitative. The techniques used in collecting empirical data in the field were interviews and documentation. The findings of the research indicate that the guidelines for implementation of waqf and can be used as a foothold in the management and empowerment of money waqf. The potential of empowerment of money waqf in Tanah Datar Regency can be enhanced by strengthening the wakaf regulation in the regions, establishment of business partners, strengthening the quality of human resources with sharia insight, and adequate financial support. Policy can be done by cooperating with various parties, such as local government, syariah financial institutions (LKS), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), companies and others.


Author(s):  
Jorde JAKIMOVSKI

The paper discusses the level of satisfaction of the local government performance and certain forms of citizen’s participation in the improvement of the quality of life in the rural communities, such as creating new job positions, improvement of the infrastructure, creating better opportunities for the children, and decreasing of the poverty. Politicians often make big promises before elections while talking about democracy, rule of law and citizens well-being. After their election, however, they forget about the problems of their fellow citizens. Citizens then feel helpless, fall in apathy and hopelessness, and take a distance from politics and the vital questions for their rural community. The paper will show some data related to these issues gathered from a research conducted by the author in 2016 on a representative sample of 640 respondents on the territory of Republic of Macedonia. The research results show the current situation of the citizen’s satisfaction from the local government with respect to the solutions of water supply and sewerage, transport of citizens, opening of new jobs, building of social services facilities, opportunities for culture and recreational activities, and they ways in which the citizens influenced the local government. The results mostly reflect dissatisfaction with the work of the local government in addressing local problems, the underdeveloped mechanism of public participation, low level of human capital in rural local governments and other problems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Constantina Costopoulou ◽  
Maria Ntaliani ◽  
Filotheos Ntalianis

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.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Masik

The Quality of Life of Suburbanities: A Case Study of the Gdańsk Agglomeration The article explains the meaning of the concept of ‘quality of life’, placing emphasis on its subjective dimension. As the concept is more and more discussed in the literature, the author intends to examine the satisfaction within public spaces for which local government is responsible. According to research made in Canada it is worth measuring not only satisfaction as such but also the importance of its constituent dynamics. Therefore, a survey made in the suburbs of the Gdańsk agglomeration asked respondents about their satisfaction with public transport, roads, environment, etc., including questions about the relative importance of such issues. The combination of satisfaction and importance provide the overall quality of life. At the end of the paper the author considers if there is a chance to improve the quality of life through a brief analysis of local governments expenditure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Made Pradana Adiputra ◽  
Sidharta Utama ◽  
Hilda Rossieta

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence about the influence of the size of local government, the quality of local government financial statements, the level of local government response to the disclosure of financial information and the local political environment on the transparency of local government in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach The study sample consisted of 34 regional governments (provinces) in Indonesia in 2016, using purposive sampling and multiple regression analysis. Findings The results showed that the quality of financial reporting through the audit opinion and political environment have a significant positive effect on the transparency of local government in Indonesia. On the other hand, the size of the local government and local government response rate on the regulation do not affect the transparency of local government in Indonesia. Originality/value The agency, legitimacy and institutional theory have an important role in the underlying local government transparency practices in Indonesia. The results of this study should be used as the basis of thought and study to determine the factors that affect the performance of local governments from the financial and non-financial aspects.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Gorokhovskaia

Conventional wisdom holds that civil society is a sphere of activity separate from the state and the private realm. Due to a combination of historical, developmental and institutional factors, Russian civil society today is dominated by the state. While not all interactions with the state are seen as harmful, scholars acknowledge that most politically oriented or oppositional non-governmental organizations today face difficult conditions in Russia. In response to the restrictions on civil society and the unresponsive nature of Russia’s hybrid authoritarian regime, some civil society actors in Moscow have made the transition into organized politics at the local level. This transition was motivated by their desire to solve local problems and was facilitated by independent electoral initiatives which provided timely training and support for opposition political candidates running in municipal elections. Once elected, these activists turned municipal deputies are able to perform some of the functions traditionally ascribed to civil society, including enforcing greater accountability and transparency from the state and defending the interest of citizens.


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