Public Participation In Local Government Research Articles

Measuring Quality of Public Participation in the Local Government of Bangladesh

Public participation in local government is considered very crucial for ensuring good governance and quality service at the local level. This study aims to measure the level of public participation in the local government of Bangladesh. For this purpose, Arnstein’s citizen participation theory is used in this study. A cross-sectional quantitative approach has been followed in this study. To fulfill the research objectives, 400 samples were collected using the survey method from two divisions of Bangladesh namely Dhaka and Rangpur. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in this study for conducting the survey. Major findings of this study revealed that existing mechanisms for citizens’ participation in the local government of Bangladesh is merely for eye-washing rather than for ensuring actual citizen’s participation. People cannot influence local government decisions through these existing mechanisms. In terms of Arnstein’s citizen’s participation theory, the level of public participation in the local government of Bangladesh is at the therapy level. It indicates that the existing mechanisms are only for making people cured by showing that the people have the opportunity to participate rather than using these mechanisms for ensuring actual citizens’ participation. However, the government and other respective authorities need to take necessary measures for ensuring public participation in the local government of Bangladesh.

Основні характеристики участі громадян у місцевому самоврядуванні

The article provides a theoretical analysis of the essence of the process of citizen participation in local self-government. It is determined that public participation in local government should be understood as: independent participation of citizens (general public) in local self-government, in the forms of direct democracy; legalization of the activity of local self-government bodies by citizens through the exercise of suffrage and control rights; proper participation of citizens, social actors in decision-making and performance of the State tasks, including services, by local self-government bodies in the field of local, territorial or regional affairs, as well as the State affairs. It is noted that the existing scientific developments and the carried out analysis allowed to concludeaboutthe need to study public participation in local self-government based on the specification of key characteristics, namely the levels, forms and mechanisms of participation. The the groups of levels of public participation in local self-government and the hierarchy of the process of public participation depending on the level of public influence are interpreted according to the Sherry Arnstein classification. The practices of democratic countries regarding community participation in local affairs and direct participation in local self-government are analyzed and singled out. It is determined that one of the main tasks in this issue is the cooperation of citizens with the authorities to address pressing issues of national and local importance, which can be achieved through the introduction of direct forms of citizen participation in local self-government. Ukraine is actively transforming democratic processes and gradually forming a strong and active civil society. One of the main tasks in this issue is the cooperation of citizens with the authorities to address pressing issues of national and local importance, which can be achieved through the introduction of direct forms of citizen participation in local self-government. The key characteristics of the implementation of citizen participation in local self-government are given.

Transformative networks and public participation in local government in the post-COVID era

No abstract available.

Напрями підвищення ефективності управління територіальною громадою

Розглянуто особливості управління територіальною громадою в сучасних умовах. Показано необхідність підвищення якості управління як передумови надання якісних послуг населенню територіальних громад. Запропоновано врахування певних принципів у процесі формування організаційної структури управління. Проведено аналіз видатків на утримання апарату управління в різних територіальних громадах. За результатами аналізу запропоновано підходи до підвищення ефективності управління на місцевому рівні.

Peacebuilding through Public Participation Mechanisms in Local Government: The Case Study of Mbizana Local Municipality, South Africa

This article asserts the importance of public participation in local government, through social action research, in order to achieve good governance. We examine how bad local governance negatively impacts the socio-economic development trajectory of communities. Based on fieldwork conducted in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, this article illustrates the transformative role participatory processes and good governance played as peacebuilding mechanisms to achieve positive peace in the Mbizana local municipality. The municipality’s geography spans from deep rural areas to the urban central business district (CBD). A mixed qual-quant methodology with a phased rollout was applied to engage the local government and communities involved, and target with precision the lived reality of the residents. The findings of the study point to the transformative nature of the local participatory processes that entailed building confidence between the municipal authorities, the NGO Good Governance Africa (GGA) and the Mbizana community, and new ideas on how to facilitate public participation. Our conclusion is that civil society organisations should build trust with local authorities in communities for public participation interventions to be successful. This outlook differs to perceiving local authorities as a threat or barrier to direct interventions. The combination of participatory processes and good governance restored the community’s confidence in the municipality through shared governance information and capacity building. This hybrid approach can be replicated and applied to promote sustainable peace in communities that face similar challenges.

Participatory budgeting in a South African local municipality

Data for the research was drawn from documentary evidence and primary interviews with municipal officials, elected officials and local citizens. The study concluded that though the municipality is conscious of the need for public participation in budgeting, the involvement of the public in the process needs to be improved. Capacity building is also needed to increase the participation of city officials, elected officials and citizens. This study contributes to citizen-focused service delivery in municipalities. It also contributes to the scholarly understanding of effective public participation in local government.

Participatory budgeting in a South African local municipality

Data for the research was drawn from documentary evidence and primary interviews with municipal officials, elected officials and local citizens. The study concluded that though the municipality is conscious of the need for public participation in budgeting, the involvement of the public in the process needs to be improved. Capacity building is also needed to increase the participation of city officials, elected officials and citizens. This study contributes to citizen-focused service delivery in municipalities. It also contributes to the scholarly understanding of effective public participation in local government.

MobiSAM: Reflections from a four year case study using technology to increase public participation in local government in South Africa

This paper reflects on a four year evaluation on the use of a mobile platform, MobiSAM, to support increased public participation in local government. It describes the lessons learnt in the design, development and evaluation of the initiative. MobiSAM uses a community based co-design methodology, emphasizing the importance of community’s voices throughout the design and evaluation of the project. Attention is drawn to the education and awareness raising interventions undertaken in order to scaffold the deployment of the system. A discussion of the findings of the project is also provided in order for other actors in the field to learn from MobiSAM’s successes and failures. Special attention is focused on the political stability and communication capacity required to successfully undertake initiatives such as this.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT WORK PLAN PONTIANAK CITY OF WEST KALIMANTAN PROVINCE IN 2016

Public Participation in Local Government Planning Work Pontianak province of West Kalimantan in 2016 was chosen because the researchers are encouraged by the phenomenon of community participation in implementation RKPD Musrenbang for the preparation of the proposal is still lacking and many people who do not direalisaikan. To that end, the general research problem is formulated: "How can public participation in the Development Plan Local Government of West Kalimantan Province Pontianak Year 2016". The study design used a qualitative approach. The results showed that community participation in providing information about the conditions, needs and attitudes in preparation RKPD 2016 that have not responded by the City Government through Bapedda, community involvement in the preparation and planning preparation RKPD Year 2016 in order to generate trust and a sense of community has also not been successful optimally, and public participation in the utilization of democratic rights in the implementation of Musrenbang RKPD still lacking, so the implementation of the present society Musrenbang more impressive work in vain or simply fulfill a formality or a mechanism to meet the requirements set out in legislation.

The potential of mobile phones for increasing public participation in local government in South Africa

This paper presents a critical discussion on the current use of technology and participation in local government. It discusses the rise in popularity of mobile devices, and how they have been used in ICT for development. The paper describes the results of a baseline study undertaken in a city within Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, to empirically investigate how residents are currently using mobile phones and participating with local government around the area of service delivery. The findings illustrate the current state of mobile phone usage and capabilities, and the potential for using the mobile platform to increase participation in local government in South Africa. The paper also can be used to inform and guide project stakeholders on how best to implement m-participation strategies.

Community visioning: the role of traditional and online public participation in local government

Public participation is increasingly becoming an expectation and is often mandated in government policy and planning processes around the world. However, eliciting public participation in large-scale community visioning is fraught with challenges as public officials navigate the abstract nature of visioning, the abundance of public participation approaches, and the emerging Web 2.0 services and technologies. In response, this article outlines an approach used by a local government authority in Australia for its community visioning initiative entitled Living Kingston 2035. The use of extensive communication and promotion channels, coupled with traditional and online participation approaches, has delivered broad public participation. It has also resulted in an endorsed long-term vision, a suite of publicly accessible research reports, and a community knowledge database to guide future plans and decisions for the municipality.

Partisipasi Publik Deliberatif Berbasis Website Dalam Perumusan Kebijakan Daerah (Studi Kasus di Dinas Perizinan Pemerintah Kabupaten Sleman Tahun 2014)

Participation is one of the important elements that must be considered in the policy, this participation is a form of political participation of the people is very important in order to create good governance. Therefore, the implementation of public participation in policy formation should be regulated more clearly. Sleman District Government consistently manage the aspirations of the people with technology, information, and communication or so-called e-government. The purpose of this study was (1) Analyze matters relating to the implementation of deliberative public participation based websites (2) Analyzing the supporting factors and obstacles in the implementation of web-based deliberative public participation in Local Government Licensing Office Sleman 2014. This research pressure was on the field research and the method used in this study was descriptive analysis both qualitative and quantitative. The data particularly obtained from respondent by purposive sampling technique, based on the questionnaire and interview as primary data, and completed with secondary data. Results of the study, the research obtained showed that the implementation of public participation in policy formulation Sleman has been running well and were level Consultation (consultation), and there are stages Inclusion or participation. The driving factors: the institutional, kontinyunitas, facilities and infrastructure memadahi. Inhibiting factors: the complaint of data is not accurate, human limitations and human error.It can be concluded that the method of public participation in the formulation of regional policies, new is an obligation that must be implemented by the government, because of the demands of decentralization in local autonomy government wants a role alongside other stakeholders in the formulation of regional policies. Suggestions submitted so that in the future the government is obliged to increase the facilities of the level of public consultation into the degree of force (Degree of Citizen Power).

Partisipasi Publik Deliberatif Berbasis Website Dalam Perumusan Kebijakan Daerah (Studi Kasus di Dinas Perizinan Pemerintah Kabupaten Sleman Tahun 2014)

Participation is one of the important elements that must be considered in the policy, this participation is a form of political participation of the people is very important in order to create good governance. Therefore, the implementation of public participation in policy formation should be regulated more clearly. Sleman District Government consistently manage the aspirations of the people with technology, information, and communication or so-called e-government. The purpose of this study was (1) Analyze matters relating to the implementation of deliberative public participation based websites (2) Analyzing the supporting factors and obstacles in the implementation of web-based deliberative public participation in Local Government Licensing Office Sleman 2014. This research pressure was on the field research and the method used in this study was descriptive analysis both qualitative and quantitative. The data particularly obtained from respondent by purposive sampling technique, based on the questionnaire and interview as primary data, and completed with secondary data. Results of the study, the research obtained showed that the implementation of public participation in policy formulation Sleman has been running well and were level Consultation (consultation), and there are stages Inclusion or participation. The driving factors: the institutional, kontinyunitas, facilities and infrastructure memadahi. Inhibiting factors: the complaint of data is not accurate, human limitations and human error.It can be concluded that the method of public participation in the formulation of regional policies, new is an obligation that must be implemented by the government, because of the demands of decentralization in local autonomy government wants a role alongside other stakeholders in the formulation of regional policies. Suggestions submitted so that in the future the government is obliged to increase the facilities of the level of public consultation into the degree of force (Degree of Citizen Power).

Increasing Public Participation in Local Government by Means of Mobile Phones: What do South African Youth Think?

Apathy towards political participation is of concern for many countries throughout the world, and for many people political participation means no more than voting in an election. The South African Constitution makes several provisions for public participation but E-government solutions are not suited to the South African context, where fixed-line internet penetration is dramatically lower than that of mobile phones. Mobile phones cut across socio-economic barriers and have changed the way we communicate. They have been used to mobilise people in different parts of the world, more notably those who were passive politically, into action. This research set out to investigate whether using mobile phones to increase participation in local government would be acceptable or not. A mixed-method research was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, amongst youths between the ages of 18 and 35 who had no access to fixed-line internet from either home or work. Constructs from a modified UTAUT model and Social Capital Theory were used to determine the individual intention to use government mobile service if they were made available. It was found that there is not only great interest in using mobile phones to interact with government mobile services, but also to interact with other members of the community. The ability to report on corruption and service delivery problems was particularly welcome.

Network Hopes

In this work, the authors examine four cases of municipalities that have attempted to create municipal-sponsored wireless broadband networks. In each of these cases, one of the reasons given for establishing the network was to engage the citizens in their community and government. In each of these cases, the efforts have failed in some way. This problem rests on several assumptions. First, these municipalities believe in the importance and need to increase civic engagement, public participation in local government. They also believe that one way to do this is through increasing access to broadband Internet. In this article, we argue against a simplistic, deterministic, utopian view of information and communication technologies. We argue that in the case of local governments, choices made by government officials to solve social problems with technology are often made out of hope, frustration, inadequate funding, and inadequate knowledge. These public technology projects are often met with failure and often lead to further distance and mistrust between local governments, public officials, and citizens.

Deepening democracy and enhancing multi-level governance: deficiencies of and prospects for local government ward committees in South Africa

The South African local government system has a number of shortcomings, two of which relate to the role of local government in the deepening of participatory democracy and the position of local government in a system of multi-level governance. In this article, it will be posited that a lack of depth and quality in local democracy compromises the system of intergovernmental relations. Against this background, views on participatory democracy as a theoretical background will be investigated and the development and deficiencies of the ward committee system considered. In order to contextualise the mechanism of local participation, selected international examples of public participation will be considered and an indication of the negative and positive aspects of these cases given. The South African system of intergovernmental relations will be investigated in order to show the importance of local government and public participation therein. Thereafter, suggestions will be made regarding the improvement of public participation in local government in order to adhere to the requirements of democracy and, as a result, to enhance and legitimise the system of intergovernmental relations.

Discursive Democracy and New Labour: Five Ways in Which Decision-Makers Manage Citizen Agendas in Public Participation Initiatives

New Labour's conceptualisation of public participation in local government creates a tension in public participation practice. Government legislation and guidance require local authorities to develop and provide citizen-centred services, engage the public in policy-making and respond to the public's views. Seen in this light, New Labour policy draws from radical democratic discourse. However, local authority staff are also expected to act in accordance with the direction set by their line managers, the Council and the government and to inform, engage and persuade the public of the benefit of their authority's policies. In this respect, New Labour policy draws from the discursive model of civil society, conceptualising public participation as a method for engendering civil ownership of the formal structures of representative democracy. Tension is likely to arise when the ideas, opinions and values of the local authority differ from those expressed by the participating public. This paper uses a local ‘public participation’ initiative to investigate how the tension is managed in practice. The study shows how decision-makers dealt with the tension by using participatory initiatives to supply information, understand the views of the public and encourage public support around pre-existing organisational agendas. Problems occurred when citizens introduced new agendas by breaking or manipulating the rules of participation. Decision-makers responded by using a number of distinctive methods for managing citizens’ agendas, some of which were accompanied by strategies for minimising the injury done to citizens’ motivations for further participation. The paper concludes that New Labour policy fails to deal with the tensions between the radical and discursive models of participation and in the final analysis draws mainly from the discursive model of participation. Furthermore, whilst New Labour policy promotes dialogue between the public and local authority, it does not empower local authority staff to achieve the goal of citizen-centred policy-making.

Theme: Local Government: With a Little Help From My Friends: Managing Public Participation in Local Government

As the system of Best Value develops and matures, this article argues that there is a need within the literature for more research into the micro-management processes of public participation within local government. The article presents the findings of a study into the management of ‘friends’ groups as a form of public participation in a Best Value pilot council for parks and grounds maintenance situated in northern England. The conclusion is that this form of innovative community involvement is unlikely to be successful without substantial two-way commitment on the part of both the local council and the community, and unless parks officers are able to manage groups of this kind through their clearly demarcated developmental stages.

The attitudes of Councillors since Widdicombe: a focus on democratic engagement

The Widdicombe committee's survey of councillors' attitudes towards democracy provided an assessment of how councillors interpret the processes of local representation and their position as representatives. Taking some of Widdicombe's research findings, this article compares it with the results of more recent research into councillors' attitudes. It explores how councillor's view the prospect of enhanced citizen participation in council affairs as an integral part of the local government modernisation agenda. The approach councillors take toward the business of local representation plays an important part in enabling local government to connect, or otherwise, with local communities and indicates the likely success or failure of moves to encourage greater public participation in local government.

Exploring the limits of public participation in local government

Exploring the limits of public participation in local government