Democratic gains in public administration at local level in terms of CSR: Theory and practice-based approaches at Izmir Metropolitan City, Turkey

Abstract

Cooperation is of great importance in ensuring social responsibility. Thus, the democratic indicators, which are important in the realization of governance, were given precedence in this study. How much attention do 'central and local governments' pay to issues relating to the presence of democracy? And how much does society claim ownership of these issues at any given level? In relation to this, how many of the democratic indicators have been expressed numerically? All these questions are closely related to issues concerned with the sustainability of any society and constitute the dynamics of urban life. Furthermore, the fact that citizens and other foreign settlers in a city play a role in the development of that city is closely related to ensuring solidarity from them. In a sound urban structuring, the existence of different cultural groups is considered to be crucial in ensuring the existence of social peace. However, these issues are not observed on the agenda at local level. This is indicated by their absence in the strategic planning of municipalities in the context of Turkey. This chapter seeks to provide answers to a series of questions which relate to CSR, for example it provides answers to questions such as: What is the role of individuals and the community in the development of a city? How much do individuals as 'women and men' share in the feeling of solidarity brought about by democracy? To develop and sustain the ability of any society to make decisions and collectively implement strategies with the help of ongoing learning tools in order to develop democratic gains; are important ingredients which could lead to an ideal social form. How ready are the legal decision makers in Turkey to accept new ideas affecting the government structure? The degree of success in social responsibility can be more or less monitored by the democratic indicators developed concretely to this end. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.