Structural and functional status of the district administration level in Turkey: An effective and participatory model trial

The district administration in Turkey means the secondary management level under the supervision of the province which is the largest central government departments in country. Provincial administration approach that organised on a narrow area and be created for the purpose of providing security and public order and collection of taxes and recruitment of soldiers become unresponsive political, social and economic changes after 1950s. Provincial administration having been influenced by the processes of economic development and improvement, political democratization, decentralization, civil society participation in administration, civil-military relations has undergone a change structurally and functionally. This change is emerging as a reduction and decrease of functions and organizational deficiencies and incompetences in district administration. Trend of regionalization, specialization and privatization which emphasizes autonomous public bodies from district administration and private sector organizations, trend of military organizations independent from civilian authority which emphasizes military police organizations, tendency to civilization which is citizen-focused and decentralization/metropolitanization which highlights local governments (metropolitan municipalities and municipalities) and civil society organizations require reconstructing of the organizational (structural) and functional status of the district administration. Reorganization of the district administration has three basic conditions. The first one is to be improved the district administration to the optimal scale in terms of physical area and population, to be determined and defined the administration forms as metropolitan, non-metropolitan and central districts considering urbanization level and the distance to the province it bounds to. Secondly, It is essential to keep the public institutions within the hierarchical unity of the district's general administration (to ensure integrity of the district public organizations at hierarchical framework of the district general administration), to be reorganized and activated basic functions of district administration such as providing public order and security, control of local governments, local or regional development, social welfare and struggling against poverty, sustaining local services which can provide around the district scale by winning the legal entity (by being reorganized and recognized as an local government) and its secondary functions such as personnel management, coordination, planning and administrative control. After restructuring at the district's functional status, the third essential condition is that the district's structural reorganization to ensure a balance between the efficiency/productivity and participation/democratization principals. It's essential to build the district administration based on deconcentration principal and the district governorship connected to the premiership. It is also important to establish the infrastructure of information communication technology, the position of deputy 'district' governor and the expert staff positions and specialized offices in the organizational structure of the district governorship as managerial instruments which is providing efficiency of the district administration. The regulations/arrangements that are supposed to provide democratization and participation in the district administration are predicting administrative instruments which will ensure institutionalization of the principles of transparency and accountability on scale of the district, constructing and organizing a local council/assembly which is participatory on scale of the district, ensuring and providing participation of the citizens in administrative commissions/boards within district governorship and opening to citizen and civil society control, besides hierarchical control of the district governorship's performance. Key Words District administration, district governorship, structural and functional status, provincial administration, reorganization of the district, effectiveness of the district