Abstract:

The effective provision of local services, the identification of problems and the implementation of participating mechanisms is an important stage in the identification of problems and the discovery of solutions. The participation of the public in the decision-making processes for a legitimate, transparent, accountable and democratic local government is a fundamental step. In the light of these ideas, the participating democracy concept and participation mechanisms have an increasing impact. In the name of the implementation of a democratic local governance model, the process that begins with the local agenda 21 in Turkey has made it possible to develop the participation mechanisms in local governments. The current situation of the municipal councils, which is a reflection of a democratic local governance in the study, was analyzed in the axis of participating democracy, democratic local governments and local participation concepts. With the comparison of the states of the United States, Sweden, Germany, France and the United Kingdom that provide examples of local participation, the failures in Turkey have been attempted to be identified. In the continuation of the study, the current state of the city council model, created as a democratic local governance model, was identified, and structural and administrative recommendations were presented to ensure effective local participation.

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