Citizens Prepared to Volunteer in Public Good Projects

12 September 2006

Contrary to the widespread opinion that the citizens of Macedonia approach the institutions mainly as holders of demands, disinterested in their own engagemen in the public life and affairs, a study conducted by the Centre for Management and Human Resources of the Institute for Social, Political and Juridical Research (ISPPI) presents encouraging results.

Stefan Denert commended civic participation in local affairs.

The study focused on four larger issues: what do the citizens think of the work of the local self-government, how informed are they about the transfer of competences, what are their expectations and how prepared are they to participate in local self-government?

According to the study, the citizens are well inclined toward participation in municipal projects on voluntary basis. The percentage is especially high with the student population (over 60 percent) who expressed their willingness to volunteer, which opens new possibilities for activation of intellectual potentials on municipal level.

Another interesting finding is the fact that the citizens in rural municipalities are far more interested to volunteer on municipal projects than the citizens of urban areas (the difference is ten index points).

On the other hand, the study detected serious lack of information on the whole process of decentralization and transfer of competences, with citizens of rural areas and municipalities far less informed than the citizens in urban municipalities. In general, the authors of the study conclude that the level of information ought to be raised at a higher level, with special efforts dedicated to rural municipalities.

�There is a belief that Macedonian citizens appear in front of state and local institutions solely as seekers of services and are not prepared to volunteer for the public good. A democratic society is possible only with active citizens and the decentralization widens the possibilities for civil participation in public affairs�, said Stefan Denert from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Denert added that FES supported the study under its wider interest in the topic of decentralization, which includes a variety of activities such as publication of series of titles and manuals, organization of debates and a big regional conference on the topic of local development.

The study, Decentralization Process: Citizens� Views, prepared by Mirjana Borota Popovska and Vasil Popovski, supported by FES, was conducted from June 20 to June 26, 2005, one week before the start of the transfer of competences from national to local level. The study was conducted on a representative sample of 1,200 persons, with the �face to face� method.