Local Democracy and Neighborhood Councils
Local governments are the most suitable for democratic participation as the institutions closest to citizens. Local governments are also referred to schools of politics and democracy. The values on which local governments emphasized as democracy schools are based on efficiency, participation, freedom, autonomy, and democracy.
In the words of John Stuart Mill, “It cannot be said that democracy develops in a place where local governments are not strong enough”. In order to democracy to function effectively, local governments should be given importance. Hence, institutionalization of democracy at the country level can only be possible with the experience of democracy at the local level.
Local democracy is an environment where democratic values are validated for local governments. Here, the agenda that directly concerns the citizens is determined, problems are discussed and resolved, and they are put into practice. Democratic behavior and participation, efficiency and productivity, social justice, transparency and accountability, impartiality and equality have an important place among the basic principles on which the concept of local democracy is based.
According to Friedrich Von August von Hayek, “Local governments function as a political school for both people and local administrators”. It is possible for citizens to gain habits towards democratic principles and behaviors through local governments that are also referred to democratic decency organizations. In this context, it can be said that if one can be successful in terms of democracy at the local level, it will also be successful at the country level. Elections held at the local level are the primary tools used for the functioning of local democracy. For all that, local referendums, local ombudsman, public meetings, city councils, neighborhood boards, advisory assemblies, people’s and citizen’s initiatives, city and neighborhood councils are considered as implementation tools of local democracy.
As a reflection of the citizen-oriented management approach, neighborhood councils are one of the most important application areas of the understanding of local democracy. Neighborhood councils serve as a bridge between citizens and municipalities, and it can be claimed that it acts as an intermediary to convey wishes and expectations of inhabitants to municipality.
It can be said that effective operation of neighborhood councils in Selçuklu, Meram, and Karatay districts, besides Konya Metropolitan Municipality, will increase citizen participation. It is important that neighborhood councils having the opportunity to practice partially in Konya before should be established in every neighborhood in order to increase interaction between citizens and the municipality and to establish communication. Establishing and functionalizing neighborhood councils will be an important step to realize a participatory and transparent management approach.
In the formation of neighborhood councils, headmen and city councils will have important duties as well as municipalities. It is thought that neighborhood councils will play an important role to shape urban culture and developing urban consciousness and increasing citizens' urban belonging. In this context, with a project to be led by the Konya Metropolitan Municipality, neighborhood councils to be established first in the central districts of Konya will then spread to the other districts of Konya. In this way, interaction between neighborhoods will increase and cooperation opportunities between neighborhoods of Konya will expand.
