Development of Citizens’ Political Participation in Local Administration System

The foundation of modern local governments in Turkey was laid with an imperial edict in 1839. This reform also called Gulhane Hatt-i Hümayunu or Tanzimat Edict, paved the way for local and regional councils. Since the 1850s, the municipalities have been established. However, it is not possible to talk about the functionality of these municipalities in current terms. Since the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, modern laws regulating local governments were issued. Village Law and Municipal Law are the first examples of these reformations. With the 1961 Constitution, modern participatory local government approach was adopted and mayors began to be elected directly by people for the first time. From 1960 to present, many local government reforms were made, but none of them were so fundamental as in 2012. With this reform, local government system has completely changed. Aim of this study is investigation of results of this reform and find out needs for a new wave of reform. New Metropolitan Municipalities Law is problematic in terms of local governance and local participation. Although European Charter of Local Self-Government and the European Urban Charter paying special importance to citizen’s participation, last developments in Turkey as a European Union candidate continues in the opposite direction. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss all aspects of the new regulation. So that, field researches will be analyzed and recommendations will be presented in the light of these field studies relevant to the reforms