Abstract:

Local governments are the unit of the public administration to serve the citizens. These units are the institutions that produce solutions to the problems that citizens face in their daily lives. Local governments come in the head of the appropriate organizations in the implementation of democracy and root in society. Nowadays, local governments and local democracy and participation concepts are in an internal state. Communication between local governments and citizens through participation is the forefront of an effective and democratic government structure. A healthy democracy at the local level leads to the effective decision-making, the active participation of the local people in the decision-making processes, and the implementation of the decision-making with the participation of the local people, which leads to the habitation of efficiency and productivity in all layers of society. On the other hand, the transparency, accountability and participation in local governments, which is based on the principles of management, appears to us as an obligation. In the processes in which the participation of the public in local decisions is not provided, the needs and problems cannot be properly identified and appropriate local public policies cannot be developed. On the other hand, the lack of participation in local governments makes it impossible for the public to possess local public policies, their continuity and sustainability as well. In this study, what methods of participation the local people in Turkey use will be explained by the example of the Metropolitan Municipality of Trabzon. The objective here is to study the existing methods of participation; to reveal the levels of awareness and attitudes of the public and local governments. The participant, placing himself as an open and transparent administration, will provide an example of whether all municipalities in the Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality are encouraging citizens to participate in local governments.

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