Public Policy and Administration Review

Local Democracy and Instruments of its Functionality in Local Selfgovernment in Lithuania: Case Study of Alytus and Sirvintos Municipalities
S. Nefas

Abstract
Developments in the modern world are posing a great number of fundamental challenges to the democratic thought. The coalescence of the market and democracy on a national state level has stirred up tensions with regard to modern democracy concepts and models. The impact that globalisation will have on further democratic development leaves a number of open questions. Some argue that the solution lies in further democratic globalisation, while others are inclined towards options of national state democracy consolidation. This is especially important to Lithuania, a country that successfully freed itself from the oppression of the Soviet empire two decades ago and is now engaged in voluntarily integration into Western Europe. The article points out that finding ways to strengthen public involvement in democratic processes on a local self-government level is one of the key issues to be solved in the controversial process of the democratic development. Compared to the active role that the citizens of Lithuania adopted in the first post-independence years by participating in the public life (referendums, meetings, signature collection campaigns, participation in central and local government elections, etc.), the tendencies observed in the recent years are quite different. Activity levels are decreasing across all the possible forms of civic participation, and, as civic participation in one of the main manifestations of democracy, i.e. elections, weakens, the government legitimisation and the democracy and civil sentiment of the society itself are at stake. It is therefore important to discuss how the employment of other forms of civic participation at local self-government institutions could and must offset the state’s democratic deficit. The data of research on local democracy conducted in Lithuania analysed in the article in order to define local democracy instruments reveal some of the tendencies of the local democracy that can be discerned at Lithuanian municipalities.

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