Citizen Participation in the Public Decision-Making Process at the Level of the Local Public Administration

Abstract

Through citizen participation in public decision-making, the real needs of the community are and should be included in decisions that cover those needs and are thus publicly supported. From such a direction, this micro-research aims to examine the concrete situation regarding the participation of citizens in the decision-making process by interpreting the perceptions of residents and local public administration staff in Dărmăneşti commune, to highlight the effectiveness of citizen participation in adopting an administrative decision. The approach showed that both the majority of workers in the city hall and most of the locals in the commune, who provided us with answers in the survey, appreciate that the involvement of citizens in the public decision-making process is key to democracy. Most of both respondents categories states that the main arguments for consulting the public in the process of making a public decision are: the right of citizens, ensuring the effective adoption and implementation of decisions, the decisions taken are accepted/supported by society, promoting the transparency of the decision-making process. Expressing own choice, submitting requests to the local public administration, submitting written suggestions, informal discussions tend to be considered by both the surveyed staff and the responding residents as effectve and very effective ways. On the other hand, we have found that opinion polls are one of the least effective ways for citizens to participate, with most opinions, in the case of both categories of respondents, being recorded for the small and very small response varieties.