The Mechanisms of Local Governance and the Presence (or the Lack) of Participation

The author has made an attempt to theoretically – by referring to empirical evidence – formulate the necessary conditions that allow participatory processes to happen. In this perspective, participation is not only an ethical requirement but primarily a mechanism that supports taking up the challenges posed by the increasing complexity of the social world. The examples presented in the article show that participation has a very strong ‘competitor': clientelism. In the spaces where the latter forms the base of the relations between the government and society, it is difficult to find a well-rooted and sustainable presence of participatory processes. The author thus presents a hypothesis that the logic of clientelism, together with the lack of the ability to recognise the importance of resource interdependence, has the ability to weaken participation, or in other words, wash it out in a specific way. Clientelism strives to maximise the control over resources. This can, in some cases, support the realisation of development goals or be effective in particular governmental arrangements (e.g. the transformation in Poland in the 90 s of the 20th century), however, it also deepens the passivity and in the long run can lead to a decrease in the value of some resources or even their loss. In this context, participation is thus understood mainly as an expression of caring for the owned and acquired resources and as the recognition of their interdependence