Participation of the Community in the Decision-Making Process - Case the Municipality of Pristina (original) (raw)
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Communication between the community and local government –Case the Municipality of Pristina
Path of Science, 2020
In recent years, the development of local government in the most developed countries has been oriented toward creating a new kind of partnership with the community, giving to the community an important role in policymaking and decision-making, something that is recommended by the European Charter of Local Government. Communication between the local government and the community through different communication channels/means, also in Kosovo, is an important alert or signal that the community to become an important part of public policies, although the participation of the communities in public meetings is still low, and the data derived from relevant local and international studies, also this study as well proves that the participation of the communities in drafting and developing the policies is very low. By seeing the role and importance of communication in the dialogue, cooperation, promotion and empowerment of an active community in local decision making, the goal and aim of this paper is to analyze the forms/ways of communication between the community and local government in the Pristina region, respectively in 5 municipalities: Pristina, Fushë Kosovë, Obiliq, Gllogoc dhe Gracanica, then the sources of information through which ones the community is being informed about various public meetings, also another aim is to make comparisons between the above-mentioned municipalities regarding the use of local mechanisms in decision-making. The methodology used in this paper has focused on the analysis of various studies and reports on local government and community, as well as on quantitative research to measure community opinion in the municipalities of the Pristina region. The overall results of this paper emphasize that the community is mainly informed by the local government through social networks, the municipality's website, local TV, the announcement board in municipalities, and other sources. Whereas, the local decision-making mechanisms used so far by the community are: petitions, civic initiatives, consultative committees, public meetings, but no initiatives to remove/step out mayors, although in principle some communities in some municipalities are not satisfied with their work. Keywords:community; communication; local government; decision making; democracy.
Balkan Social Science Review, 2021
Lately, the development of local government and community has taken new direction, especially in the countries of the Western Balkans, creating a partnership between these two parties. Local government is an important segment that has the legitimacy to organize local public affairs. Whereas community is regarded mainly as a social philosophy pertaining to the domain of communitarianism. More broadly, a community is a unit that includes the social networking, beliefs, values, norms and the social cohesion between its members, who are considered as social capital and are identified as part of the community. In Kosovo, the system of local government is one-tier type, central and local levels of government and municipalities are the basic unit of local government. Whereas the cooperation between the community and local government, although it is regulated by local self-government law, is still a needed practical implementation. It is important for the community to participate in public meetings, which are means used as local decision-making and policymaking mechanisms. The purpose of this study is a comparative analysis between the participation of the communities in the decision-making process in the municipalities of Pristina region (Pristina, Fushe Kosove, Obilic, Drenas and Gracanica) and the use of local decision-making mechanisms. The methodology uses analytical and comparative analysis, focusing on the communities in the Pristina region regarding their participation in public meetings. Additionally, the study analyses the empirical research conducted with the communities in the above-mentioned municipalities with a sample of 550 respondents. The results of this research show that the participation of the community in public meetings is low. About 50% of the study participants indicated that they do not attend public meetings for a number of reasons, such as the sense that their opinions and ideas were disregarded, the distance to the meetings, lack of timely information, and other influential factors. Keywords: Collaboration, community, local government, case, Pristina region
Assessment of public participation in local planning & decision-making. A case study from Albania
Global Journal of Business, Economics and Management, 2019
The public participation (PP) is widely legitimised as a vital prerequisite to achieve sustainable development and as a basic principle of democracy. Under the conditions of the new territorial administrative-territorial division of local government units in the Republic of Albania, the Malesia e Madhe (MM) Municipality is a new one. The purpose of this study was the assessment of attitudes of the local community of areas under the administration of MM Municipality on PP in local planning and decision-making in order to influence future behaviours of the local community to take active part in local decision-making processes. The questionnaire was used as a research instrument for the local community of this Municipality. The research results showed that the local community of this area was generally aware of the need for their involvement in local decision-making, but they considered the municipality as the main responsibility for their involvement in this process.
The article examines the aspects related to citizens’ involvement in the decision-making process at local and county levels in Romania from the point of view of the top level civil servants and public officials. The research interest for this issue is part of a larger research effort aiming at determining the main patterns of decision-making process in the Romanian public institutions, including the characteristics of the interactive decision-making models. Our paper seeks to find out who are the policy actors that participate in different stages of the decision making process, the level of their involvement and the degree of citizens’ involvement in public decisions making. The research was conducted on a representative sample at the national level and the sample included top level civil servants and public officials working in county councils and local councils from county seats, municipalities, cities and communes. The response rate was approximately 30% and it is based on 381 questionnaires filled in and sent back by the respondents. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that only local public institutions were analyzed and that we focused exclusively on the public officials’ and top level civil servants’ perception about citizen participation. The research shows a low level of citizens’ involvement in the decision-making process, even though public institutions from local and county level provide them with the necessary means for participation. However, when the citizens submit suggestions in the policy formulation stage, their suggestions are taken into consideration by the public officials. The research provides us with enough evidences to characterize the public participation in Romania at local and county level as a form of consultation according to the Arnstein’s ladder of participation. Even if citizens have a chance to be heard, the political elected officials hold the control over the decision-making process.
Public Services, Community, and Its Involvement in Decision-Making for Local Development
Interdisciplinary Journal of Research and Development
Nowadays, the comprehensive approach to the decision-making of local government and the community is increasingly emphasized as an important factor without which there can be no sustainable development. Community participation in decision-making for the allocation of economic resources in the public sector is an important issue that is closely related to the economic efficiency of the use of resources and the consolidation of democracy in a country. Community participation in decision-making, as one of the essential elements of sustainable development, creates appropriate interaction and makes residents self-direct their behavior in accordance with the objectives of sustainable development. The objectives of the study aim to highlight: 1) the important role of the community in public decision-making for the use of economic resources 2) solving problems begins with the participation of residents in local government decision-making, 3) residents' perception of public services prov...
Democracy and the Rights of Non-Majority Communities at the Local Level in Kosovo
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, Institute for Research and European Studies - Bitola
Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society"s integrative processes.
CITIZENS PARTICIPATION IN ADDRESSING LOCAL PROBLEMS: A CASE STUDY OF REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
2017
The paper discusses the level of satisfaction of the local government performance and certain forms of citizen's participation in the improvement of the quality of life in the rural communities, such as creating new job positions, improvement of the infrastructure, creating better opportunities for the children, and decreasing of the poverty. Politicians often make big promises before elections while talking about democracy, rule of law and citizens well-being. After their election, however, they forget about the problems of their fellow citizens. Citizens then feel helpless, fall in apathy and hopelessness, and take a distance from politics and the vital questions for their rural community. The paper will show some data related to these issues gathered from a research conducted by the author in 2016 on a representative sample of 640 respondents on the territory of Republic of Macedonia. The research results show the current situation of the citizen's satisfaction from the local government with respect to the solutions of water supply and sewerage, transport of citizens, opening of new jobs, building of social services facilities, opportunities for culture and recreational activities, and they ways in which the citizens influenced the local government. The results mostly reflect dissatisfaction with the work of the local government in addressing local problems, the underdeveloped mechanism of public participation, low level of human capital in rural local governments and other problems.
Reflection on citizen participation process in policy decisions in Urban Planning (Albania case)
This essay makes a critical reflection of the increasing tendency to involve citizens in the process of decision-making in Urban Planning in Albania. On the next paragraphs there will be introduced the past and the present situation, and also the tendency of Albanian Government to embrace the civil involvement in policy decision and policy delivery processes in Urban Planning and land development at the same time.
Community Planning Perspective and Its Role within the Social Policy of the Municipalities
Social Sciences, 2019
Community planning solves policy making at different levels of the state's functioning. Each case has a specific aim and reflects the requirements of citizens. The structure of aims is adjusted to collective and individual levels of clarification of the effect on maximization of potential applications of community planning. The research was realized in the perspective of the municipalities of the Slovak Republic. We used a participatory model of community planning policy as a main tool of community planning potential detection. We emphasized the specific adjustment of community planning to social policy in the Slovak Republic. Data collection was realized by the quantitative research method of a questionnaire. The data were evaluated by a correlation analysis to identify the measure of relationship between variables. Cross-Tabs were used for description of observed categories representation. The results showed a positive effect of the public sector on maximization of community planning policy. On the other hand, the potential declined with rising involvement of the public sector. Individual approach of leading researchers had minimum or no effect on success. It is a collective perspective that decides. In confrontation with the current state, the research represents a unique approach and confirms the exceptionality of the issue. It identifies with the previous findings about a positive contribution of the public participation in community planning. The public perceives the problems critically, expresses the requirements and needs, proposes different solutions and represents important human capital. Additionally, it can make use of contacts and multiply the use of local resources.
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIAL SERVICE DELIVERY IN KOSOVO
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, 2023
Community development is vitalin networking and creating social capital. Local governments in Kosovo cooperate closely with their communities by offering public and social services, inclusivity, and social integration. This cooperation increases active citizenship, community development, social welfare, and local democracy. This paper aims to research and analyze the relationship between local governments and their communities, focusingon providingsocial services. The applied methodology included a quantitative survey of 300 respondents from three municipalities: Pristina, Fushe Kosove, and Obilic, targeting citizens aged 18 and above of both genders. The results show that local authorities in these municipalities offer community services and include their communities in policy-makingand decision-making. While they also offer social services, community-based services should be restructured, and local authorities should pay more attention to empowering the community more comprehensively. Keywords: Local Government; Community; Social Services; Delivery; Kosovo