The relationship between community and local government – a comparative study of the municipalities in Pristina region (municipalities: Pristina, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje and Gllogoc)

Community development is one of the most studied topics in social science. It empowers ability to act in the community and social capital such as through social organisation in the forms of networking, coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit. Local governments are expected to include communities in the decision making. In Kosovo, according to the law on local government, the local mechanisms for the community decision making inclusion process are: public meetings, petitions, civic initiatives, local referendums etc., which are part of direct democracy and their aim is to involve citizens in drafting and developing public policies. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the development of the communities in the municipalities of Pristina region, their relationship with the local government structures and the participation of the community in the decision making process. We have conducted a quantitative research informed by interviewees with respondents. The overall results show that the communities in these municipalities demonstrate a very low participation rate in public meetings which reflects in the decision making, 55.1% of respondents had never participated at any public meeting organized by municipality, 36.6% of them had participated in some of them, 6% had participated in half of the public meetings, and 2.3% in many of the public meetings. Some of the factors behind the low participation of the community in these processes are: lack of cooperation among the community itself, disregard of community opinion by local government, lack of time and also lack of a more active citizenship which can be considered as the voice of the community in decision making. Low participation of the community in public meetings highlights the relationship within the community itself and also its relationship with the local government