A Study of Citizen Participation in Municipality Council Meetings in the Context of Political Participation

Abstract

In Turkey, municipal council meetings are open to the participation of ordinary citizens without them needing to have the right to vote. Therefore, involvement in council meetings is a divergent participation behavior compared to voting in local elections or joining a political party. This study investigated the demographic traits, participation frequency, and motives of citizens who engage with municipal councils in the context of political engagement in urban policymaking. Moreover, their perceptions of local democracy and their views on the modes of political participation were analyzed. To achieve this, we monitored one metropolitan city council and four district municipalities in one city. We collected qualitative and quantitative data from these meetings through participatory observation and survey methods. Thus, we revealed the socio-demographic profile of the participating citizens and outlined their views on local democracy and political participation.