The participative characteristics of LAG-members in Hungary

One of the much debated questions in the governance literature is the social participation of local people. According to the majority of experts, the participation of local actors in decision-making process is growing through the partnerships and thus wiser and fairer decisions can be made in development issues affecting them. Therefore, partnerships have become popular instruments of government to deliver policy goals more effectively. This study focuses on the participative characteristics of members of rural development partnerships. The participative features of local actors are studied in the paper through the example of the LEADER partnerships. Interviews and two countrywide surveys were conducted in the circle of leaders of Management Offices and members of Local Action Groups (LAGs). The so gained data were analysed by different statistical methods. The results concerning the participation and activity of members proved my hypothesis, according to which the work in partnership does not always end in real and meaningful participation of local actors. Most of the partners typically did not exploit all the possibilities of participating in partnership actions