Direct Democracy Practices of Local Authorities in Turkey

2022 ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
İhsan İkizer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Early Form ◽  
Ancient Athens ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
City States ◽  
Local Levels

Direct democracy, an early form of democracy, which was applied in city states of ancient Athens, is at the agenda of politics again, especially at local levels due to the limitations of the representative democracy. People do not want to voice their ideas about the cities or countries where they live just once in four or five years by casting their votes in the ballot box. They desire to be involved in decision-making mechanisms, at least for relatively more important issues that might have direct effect over their lives. Today, more local governments are applying direct democracy tools in line with the expectations of local residents and as a requirement of the local governance principle of participation. Of course, as it is the case in representative democracy, direct democracy, which aims civic engagement for each significant decision, has some limitations. This chapter will explore the implementation of direct democracy by municipalities in Turkey, with all its variation, sources of motivation, opportunities, and challenges.

Local Government as a Democracy Actor or a Service Delivery Actor

2014 ◽  
pp. 127-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Demediuk ◽  
Stephen Burgess ◽  
Rolf Solli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Governance Practice

Local governance occurs where a local government gives citizens a say in things that really matter to them, and e-governance initiatives provide electronic means to enable citizens to participate in this shared governing of the community. The clearer a local government is about the nature and degree to which it needs to act as a democracy actor (better citizens and better government) and/or a service delivery actor (better decision making), the greater the prospect that it can choose appropriate electronic means through an e-governance approach to meet those ends. In order to guide an e-governance practice and inform further research, this chapter: provides models that articulate the elements that constitute better decision making, better citizens, and better government, and presents examples from five local governments of how electronic means can satisfy particular ends.

Athens, Sparta, and Persia

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-70
Author(s):  
Matthew Kroenig
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Persian Empire ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Naval Power ◽  
International Power ◽  
City States ◽  
Open States

This chapter considers the rise of Athens in the ancient world and its competitions against its rivals, Persia and Sparta. It argues that its democratic institutions were a key to its success. Athens was the world’s first democracy, and it rose to become the leader of the Greeks, with an empire that stretched from North Africa to Crimea. It was a major trading and naval power and forged a formidable alliance of Greek city-states to defeat the mighty Persian Empire. It then fought a legendary series of wars against its oligarchic rival for ascendancy in Greece, Sparta. In the end, Athens’s form of direct democracy and decision-making through tyranny of the majority was its undoing. But not before Athens reigned as a liberal leviathan for nearly a century and showcased an enduring model for how other open states could acquire international power and influence.

Turns of Direct Democracy at the Local Level in Latvia

2022 ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Lilita Seimuskane ◽  
Maris Pukis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Government ◽  
Current Level ◽  
Study Participation ◽  
The Government

The chapter provides analysis of obstacles for the introduction of direct citizen participation in the decision-making process at the local self-governments in Latvia, as well as intents of national government to widen participative democracy by formalization of consultation mechanisms. Within the scope of this study, participation is seen as an interaction form of relationship between citizens and a local government. The highest form, according to Arnstein's gradation theory of a ladder of citizen participation, refers to the participation degree called partnership, delegated power, and is described by Teorell as a citizen voice in the government. Situation and perspective of local government referendums are analysed. Consultation is implemented at the level by involving the residents in the work of local government commissions and implementing public deliberations. Administrative territorial reform, performed by 2021 elections, will decrease the number of local governments to a third of their current level.

scholarly journals Referéndum = Referendum

2018 ◽  
pp. 274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge San Vicente Feduchi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Traditional Use ◽  
New Research

Resumen: El referéndum, entendido como “la oportunidad de que los electores participen en el proceso de toma de decisión votando sobre una cuestión más o menos específica y determinada” (Uleri, 1996, p. 2), ha tomado históricamente infinidad de formas, con desenlaces diversos dependiendo del contexto en el que ha sido desarrollado. No obstante, tanto la proliferación como la relevancia que este mecanismo ha adquirido en las democracias contemporáneas plantean nuevas vías de estudio, entre las que se encuentra su potencial para encauzar una participación efectiva frente a su reducido uso tradicional como mero mecanismo de legitimación política. El artículo tiene como objetivo plantear las bases para la discusión del uso referéndum en relación a una concepción de la democracia que se extienda más allá de la lógica de la representatividad.Palabras clave: Referéndum, democracia directa, democracia representativa, participación, representación, iniciativa.Abstract: The referendum, understood as “the opportunity for electors to participate in a decision-making process by voting on an issue more or less specific and determined” (Uleri, 1996, p. 2), has historically taken an infinite amount of shapes, with diverse outcomes depending on the context in which it has taken place. However, the recent surge both in its use and its relevance in contemporary democracies raises new research lines, among which is its potential to channel an effective participation in contrast to its traditional use as a simple legitimation mechanism. The article’s objective is to set the foundation for a discussion on the use of referendums in relation to a conception of democracy that goes beyond the logic of representation.Keywords: Referendum, direct democracy, representative democracy, participation, representation, initiative.

Local Governance in China: Incentives & Tensions

Daedalus ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Fewsmith ◽  
Xiang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Vertical Control ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
The One

China faces major challenges from social instability and general societal disaffection, which have continued to grow even as the economy has developed. In recent years, the Chinese government has tried to address such issues by diverting increasing resources to raising the income of villagers and providing social services to the urban and rural population alike. So why have “mass incidents”–public protests that sometimes turn violent–continued unabated? This article argues that the structure of central-local relations leads local governments to discount the interests of residents on the one hand, and distort central policies to the benefit of the local government on the other. The “party manages the cadres” principle, through which the central government exerts vertical control, prevents horizontal and bottom-up accountability, and thus ends up setting the interests of local cadres against those of local residents. The central government's interest in preserving its own power makes it reluctant to reform the central-local relationship, thus perpetuating crises.

scholarly journals Local Government and Traditional Authorities in Concert: Towards a More Productive Relationship

1970 ◽  
pp. 7-25
Author(s):  
Callistus Mahama
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Mutual Relationship ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
The People ◽  
Traditional Authorities ◽  
Positive Effect

Ghana embarked on decentralisation in 1988 as a way of bringing decision making closer to the people. Since then, there have several reforms with a view to strengthening local governance. This article identifies a major challenge still facing Ghana’s decentralisation: Partnership between local government and traditional authorities. The paper discusses the fuzzy relationship between local governments and traditional authorities as a result of constitutional and legislative ambiguity on their relationship. Traditional Authorities perform important functions in the country, albeit their roles have waned since independence. Yet current legal provisions on local government have not sufficiently clarified their role in local administration. This has led to a murky and competing relationship between traditional authorities and local governments. In localities where mutual relationship exists, it is mainly as a result of the personalities involved and this has had a positive effect on the development of the area. The paper concludes by advocating for measures which among others include a re-enactment of legislation which will define the working relationship between traditional authorities and local government.

scholarly journals Pathways to Citizen Participation: Participatory Budgeting Policy Choice by Local Governments

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Skip Krueger ◽  
HyungGun Park
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Budget Process ◽  
Participatory Budgeting ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Administrative Capacity ◽  
Specific Policy

The existing literature on participatory budgeting – as one means of citizen participation in local governance – tends to focus on how to stimulate citizen participation in the budget process, and primarily aims to descriptively explain the magnitude of participation or the adoption of specific policy approaches. We investigate participatory budgeting from an institutional perspective and empirically evaluate the choices that local governments make in adopting a specific set of rules for including citizens in the budget process. We suggest that the choice of the type of participatory budgeting policy is predicated on the partisanship of policymakers, the administrative capacity of local government, and citizen’s experience with other forms of direct democracy. To test these hypotheses, we collect information on 224 local governments in South Korea from 2004 to 2013. For each city, we identify the type of participatory budgeting policy they adopt and evaluate that choice in an empirical model. The results provide evidence that the partisanship of local policymakers and the administrative capacity of the local government are associated with different choices about the inclusion of citizens in the budget process.

scholarly journals Reflexive Participatory Governance for Agroecological Transformations

2020 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Colin Ray Anderson ◽  
Janneke Bruil ◽  
M. Jahi Chappell ◽  
Csilla Kiss ◽  
Michel Patrick Pimbert
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Participatory Governance ◽  
Governance Process ◽  
Territorial Approach ◽  
Social Learning Processes

AbstractIn this chapter we further discuss the rationale for a participatory and reflexive governance process as the basis for agroecology transformations. We discuss governance and facilitation mechanisms that enable continuous discussions, negotiations, exchange and joint planning between actors. Further, we provide guidance on this ongoing and iterative social learning processes among actors that can enable and ensure governance interventions that both nurture and anchor agroecology. This often requires an expansion of ‘direct’ democracy in decision-making in order to complement, or replace, models of representative democracy that prevail in conventional policy-making. Finally, we articulate the territorial approach to governance which is increasingly seen as the decisive level in fostering agroecological transformations and the scale where reflexive and participatory governance can be effectively implemented.

scholarly journals Popular Referendum and Electoral Accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Le Bihan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Elected Representatives

This paper studies how citizen-initiated referenda affect the decision-making of elected representatives. In the absence of direct democracy, elected officials who do not share the preferences of voters may enact their preferred policies even at the cost of decreasing the likelihood of reelection. Direct democracy diminishes the policy benefits of doing that, as voters may now overturn some of the policy decisions. Hence, elected officials are induced to implement the policies preferred by the voters not only on those issues that are subject to a possible citizen-initiated referendum, but also on those that are not. This result holds even when the voters’ information about their true interests is limited. Moreover, whereas in a representative democracy, being more informed may undermine voters’ ability to control public officials, the possibility of citizen-initiated referenda means that additional information improves voter control, including on issues that may be outside the direct democracy domain.

scholarly journals The Use of PPGIS: Towards Reaching a Meaningful Public Participation in Spatial Planning

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 581
Author(s):  
Edyta Bąkowska-Waldmann ◽  
Tomasz Kaczmarek
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact

Together with technological innovations and the development of a digital society, PPGIS approaches have been rapidly growing popular in the last years, in Poland’s local administration. Local governments take significant interest in online tools; however the principles of public participation, which, in fact, should also be applied to e-consultations, are still missing. One of the assumed roles of PPGIS is to support public participation—not just in terms of the number of stakeholders, but especially in terms of the impact on decision making. The present paper discusses the results of investigations into two decision-making processes, regarding local spatial planning in the Poznań agglomeration, Poland, conducted in 2015–2021. Its aim is to verify the hypothesis that the use of PPGIS facilitates more meaningful involvement of citizens in spatial planning. As a result of the case study analysis, in-depth interviews with local authorities and officials, and analysis of the planning documents and the role of PPGIS in public participation in decision making, was investigated. It was shown that in both processes there was no direct participation of society in decision making. However, the use of PPGIS, according to local authorities, had implications in the context of the wider process of local governance.

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