Bilecik Municipalty in the context of social municipalism

The idea of state, which has undergone various stages within the historical process, has turned into structures dominated by a liberal understanding following the events such as the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution and the American Revolution, which deeply affected the societies. However, this structure has not fully addressed the economic, political and social problems, which has led to new pursuits. The duties imposed on the state have also changed together with the changing expectations. The state has designed itself according to the new conditions and thus it's been tried to fulfill these needs under the roof of a social state. The functionality of local government organizations has also increased because the central government finds itself inadequate to carry out all the liabilities of being a social state. Therefore, some social duties have been given to the municipalities, which are local government organizations and close to the public. Beside the classic tasks which municipalities are obliged to execute, the assistance and social activities they perform put forward a social municipalism, increase the social functions of the municipalities and help them play a role in social life. Municipalities execute their duties with social policies. A well-established social policy enables the proper realization of the elements of social municipalism. The study has been prepared focusing on the social state, social policy and social municipalism. All these concepts are related to each other as can be seen in the study. For this reason, these concepts are emphasized, and the activities of Bilecik Municipality with respect to social municipalism are discussed in the study