Mapping Digitally Enhanced Citizens Participation at the Local Level in Bulgaria

This paper examines digitally invited spaces at the local level in Bulgaria. It presents a comprehensive map of digital tools that enable direct interaction between citizens and authorities, based on empirical research covering the websites of all 265 municipalities in the country (project BG-175467353-2025-01, CA23114-RELINK²). The analysis focuses on the types and purposes of these tools: providing information, holding consultations, submitting proposals or complaints, and participating in decision-making. The study assumes that the openness of local governance and institutions to facilitating citizens’ political participation affects the quality of democracy, including at the national level (Sellers, Lidström, Bae 2020: 21). E-participation is understood as “the use of digital media to mediate and transform the relations of citizens to governments and to public administrations in the direction of more participation by citizens” (van Dijk 2013). The main research questions are: (1) What types of digital tools are implemented? (2) Does municipality size matter, and are there differences between large and small cities? (3) What is the impact of ruling parties and parties in municipal councils on openness to citizens’ inclusion? The initial hypotheses are: (1) The centralized state does not foster the implementation of innovative digital tools for citizens’ inclusion at the local level; therefore, invited spaces are sporadic and do not ensure genuine citizens’ participation. (2) Big cities are more innovative and more open to inviting citizens to engage with local politics than small municipalities. (3) Liberal and progressive parties are more inclined to offer digitally invited spaces than conservative and right-wing parties.