The governance approach and its applicability to the local administrations: The case of Amasya Municipality

The governance approach that has revealed a model in which citizens, private sector and non-governmental organizations are included in the decision making process through its effective, transparent and auditable structure in public and by which interaction has increased among the public institutions has left its mark on the recent period. Moreover, globalization, post-fordist based production structure and transformation process of the nation-states with the wave of decentralization have increased the importance of the local administrations. At this point, the question of how the applicability of governance approach is in the local administration units comes to mind. In order to answer this question, the relations of local administrations between private sector representatives and civil society organizations are examined by referring what the governance approach is and what the effects of this approach are on the local administrations in this study. Within this framework, the case of Amasya Municipality was chosen for the field research, and responses to the survey in which representatives of the municipality, non-governmental organizations and private sectors were participated were analyzed. Even though all stakeholders are enthusiastic about implementing governance in the local administrations and consider that it could be a solution for local problems, it is observed that the governance applications have not been at the desired level yet. However, it is emphasized that applicability of the governance on the local administrations will increase thanks to the interest and willingness of the representatives of private sector, civil society and the municipality with the development of mechanisms to increase cooperation and communication among them. Key Words: Governance, Decentralization, Local Administration, Civil Society, Private Sector