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.

Swedish Local and Regional Government in a European Context

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Lidström
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
Welfare Model

Although Swedish local government shares a set of traits that are common to all other European local government systems, it stands out, in many respects, as unique. The particular combination of local responsibility for costly tax-financed national welfare policies, strong and mainly nationally organized political parties at local level, consistent decision-making collectivism, and a type of representative democracy that leaves little room for means of direct democracy make Sweden different. These features are intertwined, reflecting core values of the Scandinavian welfare model. Although many of them have been challenged during recent decades, popular support for the welfare system remains strong.

scholarly journals Participatory Democracy in Local Government

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-268
Author(s):  
Ángel H. Iglesias Alonso ◽  
Roberto L. Barbeito Iglesias
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
City Government ◽  
Administrative Participation

In 2015, the local government of the city of Madrid (Spain) introduced an electronic participation system. This initiative stemmed mainly from the social movements that had occupied the squares of many Spanish cities since 2011. As a result of the local elections in 2015, many of those same activists gained institutional power, took citizens’ participation very seriously, and decided to use the possibilities offered by the internet for political and administrative participation. In this article, we seek to assess the impacts of the Madrid city government with the e-democracy experiment – based mainly on establishing an online platform to facilitate citizen participation in political and administrative decision processes. Drawing on qualitative and documental data, our research indicates that whereas the overall aim of the project was to give citizens a say in local policy and decision making, our case study shows that participation was very low since most of the population does not feel concerned by these processes. Indeed, one of our findings showed that citizens’ involvement offline surpassed in some cases their online participation. To identify who is politically active online and offline is a great challenge, to which the promoters of the project did not pay much attention. Although e-participation was meagre in relation to the electoral turnout, the case study also shows that many proposals from the public were incorporated into the local policies, indicating that from a qualitative point of view, e-participation influences decision-making processes. Perhaps local governments should use a more strategic and integrated approach towards the use of electronic technologies to foster and motivate citizens’ involvement in local politics and administration. This more integrated approach should be less dependent on ideological incentives, more institutionalized, and must incorporate citizens’ perceptions and inputs before the introduction of new technologies.

A Model Proposal for Local Governments to Increase Citizen Involvement in the Age of Information Society and E-Government

2022 ◽  
pp. 344-362
Author(s):  
Ceray Aldemir ◽  
Eyüp Şen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Citizen Involvement ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Third ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
The World

Crowdsourcing is a form of citizen participation in which an institution has a question submits to citizens via the internet in order to get citizens to think about innovative solutions to the problem. Several municipalities around the world have already used this means, but it has not yet been clear exactly how they can use it and which preconditions play a role in this. Thus, this chapter argued the concept of citizen involvement in the age of ICT by emphasizing the two related terms e-government and e-local government, then secondly the chapter underlined the importance of the necessity of citizen participation in the policymaking process. In the third section of this chapter, it has been argued the crowdsourcing concept as a tool of participation in the age of ICT. Then finally the paper outlined a model for local governments that may use the crowdsourcing approach in the decision-making process.

scholarly journals CONDITIONS AND FACTORS OF EFFECTIVE USE OF LOCAL BUDGET FUNDS DURING THE REFORM OF FINANCIAL DECENTRALIZATION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmyla Denishchenko
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Job Responsibilities ◽  
First Results ◽  
The Government ◽  
Local Budget ◽  
Decentralization Reform ◽  
Effective Use

The implementation of the financial decentralization reform in Ukraine, which is the most important component of the general reform of local self-government in Ukraine for seven years, already has the first results and materials for research and conclusions. The state has proposed stages of reform and further activities of local governments. The government ensures the declared national expenditures delegated to local councils and recognizes the significant degree of their independence in planning, creating and implementing their budget plans. However, at the local level there are a number of problems that lead to inefficiency or inexpediency of costly financial activities. The article considers the most significant, effective and universal conditions and factors for improving the efficiency of spending financial resources of local budgets in the implementation of local government reform in Ukraine. The reasons for the need to implement the reform of financial decentralization and the problems it should solve are presented. Among the described bases of increase of efficiency of use of means – legislative, organizational, resource. Their definition was made possible by studying the results of community spending management during the first years of the reform. Most of them have an organizational character, i.e. one that is possible for the community to implement as a cohesive social body at the local level, have a low level of costs or opportunities for external financing or co-financing. Factors of its implementation, author’s comments and evaluation of efficiency are provided to each defined condition. The most important among the basics of effective spending of local budgets are: the availability of necessary and quality legislation, preparation and use of motivated staff of local governments, creation and implementation of social dialogue in the community, comprehensive control and analysis of public spending, determining responsibility for job responsibilities relevant employees, use of foreign experience and best financial practices of Ukrainian communities, use of energy-saving technologies, optimization of local government maintenance costs. Each of the presented bases has the described factors of their implementation which are described in article. The use of such factors makes it possible to use the available on a possible basis the effectiveness of the use of local funds, an important component of the community’s own resources during the reform of local self-government.

scholarly journals Current problems of civil participation in the implementation of local government in Russia

Upravlenie ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
S. S. Hamidov
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
High Level ◽  
Civil Participation

The main problems of the modern institution of civil participation in the implementation of local government in Russia have been analyzed in the article. Modern effective tools and processes, in the context of “civil participation” have been described. A number of issues and problems of formation of the institute of local government has been considered The democratic nature of the local government implies, the principle of transparency of the decisionmaking system at the local level and high level of trust of the population to local governments. Based on the study of processes, taking place in the country, as well as the analysis of scientific literature on civil pariticpation issue, the author highlights the factors, influencing the level of public confidence in the activities of local governments and the decision-making process by actors in the process of interaction between the authorities and society, in terms of ensuring the democratic nature of the local power.The aim of the analysis of the process of building the system of local government, under which social activity and civil participation in the implementation of the local government requires an interdisciplinary approach - to develop effective solutions and technologies of work with citizens, local authorities, that will lead to increased transparency in decision-making and enhance public confidence in the local authorities. In consideration, that developed institute of civil participation is a complex institution, which is an indicator of the democratic principle of organization of power, at the same time requiring a more thorough analysis of the type of relationship the actor process of interaction of authorities and society and their objectives, the author puts forward several theories, whereby you can ensure the effectiveness of the process of “participation”, in the context of mainstreaming, as described by the author.In the same way modern and effective tools and techniques have been described in the article, the application of which, according to the author, will lead to greater transparency in the work of local government authorities.

A Model Proposal for Local Governments to Increase Citizen Involvement in the Age of Information Society and E-Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 172-190
Author(s):  
Ceray Aldemir ◽  
Eyüp Şen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Citizen Involvement ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Third ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
The World

Crowdsourcing is a form of citizen participation in which an institution has a question submits to citizens via the internet in order to get citizens to think about innovative solutions to the problem. Several municipalities around the world have already used this means, but it has not yet been clear exactly how they can use it and which preconditions play a role in this. Thus, this chapter argued the concept of citizen involvement in the age of ICT by emphasizing the two related terms e-government and e-local government, then secondly the chapter underlined the importance of the necessity of citizen participation in the policymaking process. In the third section of this chapter, it has been argued the crowdsourcing concept as a tool of participation in the age of ICT. Then finally the paper outlined a model for local governments that may use the crowdsourcing approach in the decision-making process.

scholarly journals Democratic Decentralization and Empowerment of Local Government Associations in Kerala

2009 ◽  
pp. 128-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Ramakantan
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Democratic Decentralization ◽  
The Government

During the past decade the Indian state of Kerala has been successfully carrying out democratic decentralization, and has substantially transformed the functions of local governments in line with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, which institutionalised the local government system in India. In particular, formulation and implementation of micro plans with community participation has produced remarkable changes in the dynamics of local development and in the public management of local governments. This initiative for participatory planning at the local level taken by the government of Kerala enormously empowered local communities and the different actors in the local political system.

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 The Prospect of Accountability in Local Governance in Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hari P. Dhungana
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Government Accountability ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Government

Government accountability is intrinsic to democracies, as citizens can choose public officials through their popular vote and accordingly exercise some control and oversight over the officials. But elections held in periodic intervals do not allow the scrutiny of the decisions and activities that are conducted on a daily basis. This article examines how to confront this challenge of holding the governments to account, by looking into local governance in Nepal, where citizens have limited knowledge of the government decisions, activities, procedures followed, and their outcomes. This article is developed from the review of policies and laws and semi-structured interviews with elected leaders, civil service personnel, and other stakeholders in select local governments in Nepal. It argues that accountability in local government requires attention not only to laws, but also the practices of civic interaction and the willingness of elected officials and citizens in these engagements. It starts by establishing how the country’s new Constitution of Nepal (2015) espouses a local social contract in view of its division of jurisdictions. It then identifies and analyses the main approaches and tools on government accountability. These encompass broad constitutional provisions to specific legal, institutional and technocratic measures to hold officials to account. It then reveals recent local level experiences around the use of accountability tools and shows that the legacy of widespread collusion and misuse of power continues to be a bottleneck. It concludes that there is a need to foster greater civic demands on accountability and foster measures for deliberation at the municipal level on a more regular basis. Overall, local government accountability should be envisioned as a work-in-progress pursuit and should be coupled with systems of local planning and implementation and vitalization of local democracy.

Civil society organizations in China: Navigating the local government for more inclusive environmental governance

2020 ◽  
pp. 0920203X2090811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Gao ◽  
Jessica Teets
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
The Government

This article examines how civil society organizations navigate local government to secure more inclusive environmental governance. Based on an in-depth case study of water governance in Zhejiang Province between 2012 and 2018, we find that Green Zhejiang, a civil society organization, exercised informal power to hold the local government accountable based on two strategies: mobilizing citizens to collect information on water pollution and strategically leveraging the authority of provincial government to find citizen-focused solutions. Most existing studies foreground one stage of the policy process – advocacy in the agenda-setting phase, policy entrepreneurship during the design phase, or monitoring during the implementation phase; however, we examine strategies of civil society organizations throughout this policy lifecycle. With this approach, we are able to analyse the strategic interactions between different levels of the government and civil society organizations and locate the positive outcomes and limits under the current governance system. Despite policy successes, Green Zhejiang still acts informally, which limits long-term effectiveness. However, incorporating citizens into public administration in a meaningful way requires sharing policymaking power formally, and thus far, local governments are only willing to share power in an ad hoc and informal way. More institutionalized citizen participation is necessary to develop innovative solutions to the severe environmental degradation in China.

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