Public Participation as the Pillar of Democracy: The Role of Local Councillors in Croatia

Very important pillar of the democracy is the involvement of citizens in political decision making process. Public participation can be described as the deliberative process by which interested or affected citizens, civil society organisations, and government actors are involved in policy-making before a political decision is taken. The literature suggests the change from local government to governance, which increases the need for higher involvement of different actors in the decision making process and in the process of implementation of public policy. In this paper we analyse do local councillors at regional level in Croatia recognise the importance of higher involvement of citizens in decision-making process. To analyse this we examine do local councillors in Croatia find that it is important that citizens have the opportunity to make their views known before important local decisions are made by elected representatives. Our analysis is based on the result of conducted survey among local councillors at regional level in Croatia. Also, in this paper we examine different modes of public participation in decision making process in Croatian counties from the point of view of local councillors. This paper will contribute to filling the research gap concerning the role and importance of citizens’ participation in decision-making process in Croatia. Citizens’ involvement in local governance in Croatia, as well as in majority of SEE countries, is at the very beginning stage of development in comparison with majority of European countries.