Citizen Participation In Decision Research Articles

The role and importance of civil initiatives in local governance

Local governance is closely related to democracy and provides a central position to the participation of citizens in decision-making, where the perspectives of different authors such as political scientist Robert Dahl emphasized that democracy must offer equal and proper opportunities for citizens’ participation in decision-making (Forrester & Sunar, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to create a fair overview of the real condition of citizens’ involvement in local government decision-making processes, by highlighting the necessity to adapt local government to the real needs of citizens, which facilitates their lives within the municipalities. The review of literature and development of qualitative research was the methodology applied within this study. During the development of this study, surveys were also conducted with citizens and other institutional stakeholders with a key role in local governance. The findings of this paper indicated that municipal bodies have made minimal efforts to inform citizens about their opportunities and raise awareness regarding the importance of activism in decision-making, as substantiated by the questionnaire outcomes. On this occasion, it was also observed that there is a low level of citizens’ inclination to participate in public gatherings aimed at influencing municipal governance activities.

Specifics of Interaction Between Authorities And Community in the Conditions of Digitalization of a Public Administration System

The article was prepared within the framework of the implementation of the grant project No. 2022.01/0144 „Implementation of the concept of „Public participation 2.0” for the reconstruction of the city of Kharkiv in the war and post-war periods”, financed by the National Research Fund of Ukraine. Digitization of society has a significant impact on all spheres of life, including the public administration system. The introduction of digital tools and platforms transforms the ways in which the government and the community interact, making them more open, transparent, interactive and accountable. This article explores the specific features of the interaction between the government and the community in the context of the digitalization of the public administration system. The article develops a typology of models of interaction between the government and the community in the digital environment. It identifies and substantiates the advantages and challenges associated with the digitalization of government-to-community interaction. The article also develops practical recommendations for improving government-to-community interaction in the context of digitalization. The research results can be used to improve the public administration system, increase the level of citizen participation in decision-making, increase transparency and accountability of the government, and develop e-democracy.

RETURNING TO THE SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION OF DOCTOR OF LAW L.T. ZHANUZAKOV AND CANDIDATE OF LAW B.K. NURGAZINOV «THE ROLE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN IN ENSURING STABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KAZAKHSTANI SOCIETY»

The article examines the role of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, adopted on August 30, 1995 at the republican referendum. Taking into account current trends and challenges, it is pointed out the need for further development and strengthening of civil society institutions in the country, strengthening mutual control by the state and society over the processes taking place in the country. The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the fundamental basis for the development of the country, establishing the principles of the rule of law and strengthening constitutional and national security. It has defined new vectors for the development of statehood, ensuring stability and guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of every citizen. The Constitution clearly stipulates that the Republic of Kazakhstan is a sovereign and independent State. This means that it has full power and control over its affairs, makes decisions freely, conducts foreign policy and develops independently. Kazakhstan is also recognized as democratic, which implies the participation of citizens in decision-making, protection and observance of the rights and freedoms of each individual. An important principle laid down in the Constitution is the welfare State. This means that Kazakhstan strives to ensure equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of resources and social protection for all its citizens. Taking care of the well-being and well-being of each individual becomes a priority task of public policy. The state policy of Kazakhstan is aimed at ensuring the stability and prosperity of society. Through legislation, social programs and regulation, the country strives to create a favorable environment for the development of its citizens, maintaining their dignity and improving their quality of life.

Gamified online surveys: Assessing experience with self-determination theory.

We developed four online interfaces supporting citizen participation in decision-making. We included (1) learning loops (LLs), good practice in decision analysis, and (2) gamification, to enliven an otherwise long and tedious survey. We investigated the effects of these features on drop-out rate, perceived experience, and basic psychological needs (BPNs): autonomy, competence, and relatedness, all from self-determination theory. We also investigated how BPNs and individual causality orientation influence experience of the four interfaces. Answers from 785 respondents, representative of the Swiss German-speaking population in age and gender, provided insightful results. LLs and gamification increased drop-out rate. Experience was better explained by the BPN satisfaction than by the interface, and this was moderated by respondents' causality orientations. LLs increased the challenge, and gamification enhanced the social experience and playfulness. LLs frustrated all three needs, and gamification satisfied relatedness. Autonomy and relatedness both positively influenced the social experience, but competence was negatively correlated with challenge. All observed effects were small. Hence, using gamification for decision-making is questionable, and understanding individual variability is a prerequisite; this study has helped disentangle the diversity of responses to survey design options.

Management to Promote Participatory Budgeting in the Closing of Gaps in Basic Public Services in the Provincial Condorcanqui - Amazonas Department

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyse the management to promote participatory budgeting as an effective tool in closing gaps in basic public services. The main objective was to review existing literature and highlight the contributions and rationale of local government participation and management in the context of municipal public administration. Theoretical framework: Participatory budgeting is mentioned as a key concept in the study. Participatory budgeting involves the active participation of the community in the process of allocating public resources, allowing for greater transparency and decision-making based on the needs and priorities of the population. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a systematic literature review of descriptive typology, following the guidelines set out in the PRISMA statement. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to select relevant papers, which were then synthesised into a matrix that facilitated content analysis by year, country of resource, areas of knowledge and substantive contributions of the review. Findings: Analytical categories, such as participation and local government management, provide examples of exceptional content undervalued by the systems to which they belong. In addition, it is noted that the research revaluates these contributions and the logic of their emergence in the context of public administration. Social, practical and research implications: At the social level, the study highlights the importance of participatory budgeting as a tool that promotes citizen participation in decision-making and the closing of gaps in basic public services. In practical terms, it suggests that a local public administration committed to paradigm shifts in public policy and the provision of high quality public services can benefit from the implementation of participatory budgeting. In terms of research implications, it is mentioned that the research revalues the contributions of the analytical categories and the logic of their emergence. Originality/value: It is highlighted that a systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, which implies a rigorous approach and a solid basis for the findings and conclusions presented. In addition, the value of citizen participation and local government management in the context of municipal public administration is emphasised.

Factors related to Helping Behavior in Guilan Welfare Organization

Introduction: The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the reduction of citizens' helping behavior with the welfare organization. Method: This study was conducted by descriptive method and ex-post facto design. Data were collected from 408 citizens whose age was 20 years and older, and they all were from Guilan province. Samples were selected using multistage cluster sampling method. Measurement tools were: Adult Trust Scale; Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale; Norm of Reciprocity Scale; Social Network Index; Social Responsibility Questionnaire; Sense of Empathy Questionnaire; Revised Citizen Participation in Decision Making Questionnaire; Organizational Transparency Questionnaire; Awareness of Cooperation Methods and Level of Cooperation Questionnaire. Findings: Significant differences between individuals with poor, moderate, and high helping in terms of social trust; social support; social networks and ties; norm of reciprocity; norm of social responsibility; sense of empathy; belief in not involving citizens in the decisions of the welfare organization; citizens' awareness of cooperation methods; belief in the lack of transparency in the performance of the welfare organization; and altruistic behavior was observed. Discussion: Inadequacies in social variables act as risk factors for reducing cooperation with the welfare organization. Therefore, it is necessary to take intervention measures to strengthen psychosocial variables in order to improve the level of cooperation of citizens.

INVESTIGATING THE FUNCTIONING OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN A STATE GOVERNED BY THE RULE OF LAW IN A DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY

This article examines the functioning of civil society in a rule-of-law state in a deliberative democracy. Covering the theoretical aspect, the article analyses the essence of civil society, the rule of law, and deliberative democracy. In particular, the role of NGOs, media, and other public structures in shaping public opinion and contributing to solving critical problems of society is considered. The authors analyse the interaction of civil society with the legal system, in particular, the role of NGOs in promoting the implementation of laws and monitoring their observance. An important aspect of the study is the analysis of deliberative democracy and its impact on the functioning of civil society, in particular, the issue of citizen participation in decisionmaking and policymaking. The study includes an analysis of the role of civil society in ensuring citizen participation in decision-making, problem-solving, maintaining social stability, and ensuring human rights. Various aspects of civic participation are considered, including public discussions, petitions, and other forms of public mobilization in deliberative democracy. The authors note that the effective functioning of civil society contributes to building a democratic society in which interaction between different social groups is ensured, which helps to achieve consensus and improve citizens' standard of living. The author offers practical recommendations for improving the interaction between civil society and the rule of law to ensure a more effective deliberative democracy.

Lokalna demokratija i oblici direktnog učešća građana u vlasti - primer Srbija

The subject of this paper is the institutions of direct democracy at the local level in Serbia, with the aim of analyzing valid solutions (de lege lata) and improving the legal framework (de lege ferenda). The author starts from the thesis that local democracy is an ambiguous and imprecise term. In a broader sense, it represents the right of citizens to participate in government at the local level. In a narrower sense, this term is used as a synonym for local self-government (decentralization) and direct participation of citizens in government. On the other hand, tradition, socio-economic assumptions, legal (normative) framework and political environment are factors that influence local democracy. Apart from the election of local government representatives (representative local democracy), the basic institutional channels of local democracy are forms of direct citizen participation of citizens in decision-making, such as referendum and people's initiative. The application of institutions of direct democracy can be one of the indicators of the level of development of local self-government and local democracy. In the Republic of Serbia, institutional mechanisms for direct citizen participation in local self-government have been created, such as referendums, citizens' initiatives, and assembly of citizens (zbor). In addition, citizens have the right to petition and publicly criticize the authorities, the right to be heard on the authorities' intentions and the right to be informed about and monitor the work of the authorities. The local referendum is enshrined in the Constitution and other institutions are regulated by legal provisions. The quality of these regulations improved after the adoption of the new Law on Referendums and People's Initiative (2021). However, in local self-government units, the scope of these institutions of direct democracy is very limited low. The practice of direct local democracy is very poor, although there is a long tradition of struggle for local self-government in the 19th century. Such a situation is a consequence of the party state that multiplies the centralized way of decision-making, which is manifested in limited participation of citizens in political processes, increasing distrust in political institutions and ineffective control of the authorities in local self-government units. The crisis of democracy also manifests itself in the fact that citizens are less and less interested in public policy. Based on empirical data, comparative experiences and legal standards, the author believes that the solution lies in reviving the application of direct democracy at the local level.

Ključni čimbenici iseljavanja iz Hrvatske i ostanka u iseljeništvu prema percepciji iseljenika

Ključni čimbenici iseljavanja iz Hrvatske i ostanka u iseljeništvu prema percepciji iseljenika

РОЛЬ І ЗНАЧЕННЯ ІНСТИТУТУ СТАРОСТИ В СИСТЕМІ МІСЦЕВОГО САМОВРЯДУВАННЯ В УКРАЇНІ

The article is devoted to an important and topical topic – the study of the role and significance of the institution of the eldership in the system of local self-government bodies. The article emphasizes the fact that local representative democracy contributes to the development of public self-government. Citizens can actively participate in decision-making, make proposals and initiate projects that affect their environment. This contributes to the strengthening of public organizations, the development of local initiatives and the involvement of various social groups in local governance processes. The Institute of Elders promotes stability and social harmony at the local level. The headman plays the role of a mediator and contributes to the resolution of conflict situations, intergroup and interpersonal problems in the community. They contribute to the maintenance of social interaction, the settlement of conflicts, and contribute to the strengthening of trust between citizens. The Institute of Elders, as an institution of local self-government, exists in many countries of the world. Although the name and functions may vary from country to country, the general idea is that the headman is an elected official who represents and acts in the interests of his local community. The mayor promotes the mobilization and unification of the community around common goals and projects. They involve residents to participate in community development, organization of events and cooperation with other organizations and institutions. The Starost Institute, like any institute, has its positive and negative features. It is important to balance the positive and negative aspects of the institution of elders to ensure its effectiveness and compliance with the needs of the community. It has been established that the role and significance of the elder for the local community in Ukraine is important and multifaceted. The role and significance of the elder for the local community in Ukraine is important and multifaceted. Here are some aspects of their role: Representation of the community: The mayor acts as a representative of the community before local self-government bodies, state bodies and other structures. They express the interests, opinions and needs of the community and help solve their problems. Mobilization and cooperation: The mayor promote the mobilization and unification of the community around common goals and projects. They involve residents to participate in community development, organization of events and cooperation with other organizations and institutions. Development of initiatives and self-sufficiency: The mayor promotes the development of citizens’ initiatives, the search for resources and opportunities for the development of the community. They contribute to the creation of conditions for community self-sufficiency and active participation of citizens in decision-making. Maintaining order and resolving conflicts: The mayor is responsible for maintaining public order, resolving conflicts, and promoting harmonious relations in the community. They can help resolve disputes and promote dialogue between citizens. Implementation of projects and programs: The mayor helps to implement projects and programs aimed at the development and improvement of community life. They coordinate the work of the involved resources, monitor the performance. Key words: local representative democracy, local self-government bodies, headman, community representation, corruption.

Empowering onshore wind energy: A national choice experiment on financial benefits and citizen participation

This paper examines a representative choice experiment for Ireland (n = 1014) to understand the trade-offs citizens are willing to make between the distribution of financial benefits from a nearby wind farm and procedural measures for citizen participation in decision-making. Both participatory processes and outcomes which recognise local impacts are necessary for the acceptance of onshore wind farms. This paper distinguishes between shared community benefit funds, near-neighbour compensation, and citizen investment relative to issues of ownership, modes of engagement and the management of financial benefits during siting, construction, and operation of a wind farm respectively. Citizens willing to accept place greater importance on factors associated with distributive and procedural justice, while proximity and related visual impacts have comparatively more importance for citizens unwilling to accept. Willingness to accept is associated with early, in-person, engagement with a community liaison officer during siting and citizen participation in the governance and distribution of financial benefits during operation. However, citizens who show conditional support for wind farm developments prefer compensation of near-neighbour households, semi-state developers, and town hall engagement meetings. Strong supporters are more influenced by financial benefits for the wider community and local (co-)ownership of wind farms, particularly joint ventures between the developer and community.

Citizen Participation in Solving Issues of Local Significance: Experience of the Republic of Belarus

The article presents a brief analysis of the legal acts of the Republic of Belarus on the participation of citizens in the discussion and solution of local affairs and the practice of their application, as well as the results of the implementation of a number of projects of international technical assistance in this area. Citizen participation in decision-making is one of the key tools for increasing public confidence in state institutions at all levels of government, reducing the level of social tension and the risk of conflict situations in the modern society. The state acquires an additional opportunity to raise its awareness of the problems, needs and expectations of the population, as well as maximize the involvement of the potential of individual citizens and civil society as a whole by enabling citizens to participate in discussions and decision-making.

Between the state and citizens: Changing governance of intermediary organisations for inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration in Seoul

Cities across East Asia once experienced rapid economic growth and urban development under a strong interventionist state. The recent economic slowdown and political changes have pressured them to find alternatives to the previous state-led or market-driven urban development. New forms of participatory governance have been devised to mobilise citizen participation in decision-making. Citizen participation, however, is not simply about direct interactions between the state and citizens. It is also guided and facilitated by intermediary organisations that are state- or self-funded bodies working between the state and citizens. Seoul in South Korea is a case in point. Over the past decade, Seoul Metropolitan Government has institutionalised intermediary organisations to expand citizen participation in diverse areas of urban life. In urban development, a more inclusive approach has been put forward through new partnerships between government, intermediary organisations, and citizens. In this article, a case study of such partnership is critically examined. Urban regeneration in the Changsin-Sungin Area shows two meaningful changes in the governance of the intermediary organisation. The first change occurred when the intermediary organisation recruited residents as staff members and helped them to create a new local cooperative. The second change happened when the local cooperative took over the role of the intermediary organisation. Analysis of these changes revealed that intermediaries have a contradictory role in urban regeneration. On the one hand, the intermediary intervention has expanded citizen participation and improved consistently the engagement of the community of practice. On the other hand, intermediary intervention has served to instrumentalise citizen participation and constrain the growth of an autonomous community of practice while helping the state to retain control over urban regeneration. In this sense, the intermediary-led participation contains seeds of yet-to-be realised potential, albeit with the current flaws, for more inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration, which this study recognises as an integral part of emerging post-developmental urbanisation in South Korea.

Seguridad alimentaria: desafíos para una recuperación sostenible en Tamaulipas

This technical report tries to show the challenges to come for the sector and even for society in general. The information provided here is relevant, not only has documentary information published by international sources been collected, but primary information has also been compiled that has helped to identify variables that deserve multi-sector attention. It involves the application of a prospective cutting instrument in which the driving and dependent variables exposed by the participating specialists in the application of the Structural Analysis technique are exposed and subjected to a weighted assessment (influence-dependence). of the software called Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC), generated by the Laboratory of research in strategic prospective (LIPSOR). Although, the results obtained by the application of the structural analysis technique (MICMAC) denote a series of key or strategic variables (with high influence and dependence), it is important to highlight the need to continue with the approach to the issue to give greater solidity to the findings anticipated in the present study. In this sense, it is expected that the authorities, as strategic actors, promote shared, inclusive and objective dialogues to imagine, design and build the future in the short, medium and long term, in addition to establishing, improving and making transparent institutional mechanisms to consolidate the democratization of citizen participation in decision-making.

Crisis of institutions of political competition, Internet and collaborative democracy

The article examines the crisis of modern Western democracy. It is noted that the important causes of the crisis are slowing down of economic growth and deepening inequality in developed countries. It is shown that inter-party competition inevitably generates a mechanism of degradation of moral norms in the political sphere and reduction of the political system efficiency. These processes have intensified dramatically as a result of the spread of the Internet. They contributed to the reduction of citizens’ participation in political life and at the same time to the ochlocratization of the political system. It is shown as well that a number of transformations taking place in the Western countries are aimed at improvement of interaction mechanisms between the state and society and contribute to overcoming the crisis. These include expanding the role of parliamentary committees, increasing the number of parties, largescale reforms of public sector governance basing on collaboration. In this context, the experience of e-platforms and the possibilities of institutional collaborative platforms are analyzed. The concept of collaborative democracy is proposed, based on the analysis of the trends studied. The mechanism for collaborative democracy should ensure greater choice and broader direct participation of citizens in decision-making, control the costs of political competition and maintain ethical standards, prevent ochlocratization and improve governance. Contours of this mechanism are outlined. It is based on the use of a proportional electoral system of a special type, a system of expert councils and collaborative platforms for public decision-making, as well as on the implementation of decision-making rules close to consensus. The significance of these conclusions for Russia is discussed.

Applying Lapor Sleman to Increase Public Participation

This paper aims to analyze the utilizing Lapor Sleman as smart governance to increase public participation year 2018. Smart economy, smart governance, smart environment, smart people, smart mobility, and smart living are currently an innovations that continue to be developed in Indonesia as one step in applying technology to a broader sector. Smart governance became one of the important component among the six characteristics of smart city. Smart governance consists of aspects that encourage citizen participation in decision making and transparent governance. Collaboration between community and government, and the community involvement in giving advice and criticism of the government’s performance became the main things in smart governance. Lapor Sleman is existed as one of the manifestations of smart regency to improve public services by following the dynamics of people's lives, technological developments and communication.This research used exploratory descriptive qualitative method.The results of the study reveals the utilization of Lapor Sleman is expected to be able to support community activities in reporting and complaints and assisting the government in developing Sleman Regency. In spite of that, there are still many problems occuring in the use of lapor sleman.

EL DERECHO A SER INFORMADO SOBRE LOS ASUNTOS DE INTERÉS PÚBLICO: DEFENSA DE LOS JUICIOS PARALELOS EN CHILE. PROBLEMAS Y SOLUCIONES

The article explores the so-called parallel or mediatic judgments and theirrecognition in Chile. This, in order to discard the positions that refute its legality based onthe impairment of the right to the presumption of innocence and guarantees of the indepen-dence and impartiality of the judge or court that is aware of a criminal process. As a generalconclusion, it is postulated that this does not occur in hypotheses where rights and guaran-tees are exercised correctly, especially within an open government that promotes transpar-ency, accountability of the authorities and citizen participation in decision-making.

Blockchain and edge computing–based architecture for participatory smart city applications

SummarySmart cities aim to provide smart governance with the emphasis on gaining high transparency and trust in public services and enabling citizen participation in decision making processes. This means on the one hand data generated from urban transactions need to be open and trustworthy. On the other hand, security and privacy of public data needs to be handled at different administrative and geographical levels. In this paper, we investigate the pivotal role of blockchain in providing privacy, self‐verification, authentication, and authorization of participatory transactions in open governance. We also investigate up to what extent edge computing can contribute toward management of permissioned sharing at specific administrative levels and enhance privacy and provide an economic approach for resource utilization in a distributed environment. We introduce a novel architecture that is based on distributed hybrid ledger and edge computing model. The architecture provides refined and secure management of data generated and processed in different geographical and administrative units of a city. We implemented a proof of concept of the architecture and applied it on a carefully designed use case, ie, citizen participation in administrative decisions through consensus. This use case highlights the need to keep and process citizen participation data at local level by deploying district chaincodes and only share consensus results through permissioned chaincodes. The results reveal that proposed architecture is scalable and provide secure and privacy protected environment for citizen participatory applications. Our performance test results are promising and show that under control conditions, the average registration time for a citizen transaction is about 42 ms, whilst the validation and result compilation of 100 concurrent citizens' transactions took about 2.4 seconds.

Processes of civic participation in the implementation of sustainable urban mobility systems

The quality of urban life is based on sustainable mobility plans, and the bicycle is becoming increasingly important. This way of transport and its use result from a combination of urban policies, local movements, singularities of the context and social configurations. This article shows the extent to which mobility policy development and implementation models give room to pro-bike urban movements and to those who influence its promotion. It also shows the importance of citizen participation in decisions on bicycle mobility systems. In this way a methodological framework is proposed in order to know the processes of implementation of sustainable mobility policies, the evolution and effects of urban pro-bike movements, to determine their relation of interaction and to analyse civic participation mechanisms in the development of these cycling systems of mobility. Therefore a two decade long (1990–2010) case study about two Spanish cities in the process of cycling transition, Madrid and Seville, is carried out.

РОЛЬ ЕЛЕКТРОННОЇ УЧАСТІ У ФОРМУВАННІ ГРОМАДЯНСЬКОГО СУСПІЛЬСТВА

Стрімкий інформаційно-технічний розвиток суспільства значно змінив та удосконалив форми участі громадян: до звичних мітингів, демонстрацій, громадських зборів додалися інструмент електронних петицій, участь в електронних консультаціях та форумах. Інтернет розширив можливості політичної участі, нові комунікаційні технології дали змогу громадянам (громадським організаціям, ЗМІ, експертним групам) бути активними учасниками політичного життя, поглибити діалог між державною владою та суспільством. Електронна участь дозволяє досягти ширшої аудиторії за короткі проміжки часу; за допомогою нових технологій можна підтримувати та розвивати політичні комунікаційні канали; оперативно забезпечувати громадян надійною інформацією щодо політичних подій в державі, при цьому форма оприлюднення інформації є більш доступною та зрозумілою для пересічного громадянина. У статті розглянуто нові інструменти політичного залучення громадян до формування державної політики, канали електронної участі та їх мобілізаційний ефект.