Forms of Public Participation in the Polish Local Government

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present forms of involving citizens, their groups, and organisations in the sphere of local administration activity and to answer the question whether a participatory model of public management is present in the Polish local government. The article presents the evolution of relationship between public administration and citizens, and forms of citizen involvement in decision-making, provision of public services, and governance enabling citizens to have a real impact on public affairs. Results of the analysis indicate that Poland has a formal-institutional base for public participation, but the social reality does not support a thesis that a participatory model of local governance is actually used. The article employs an institutional and legal approach and an analysis of the literature.