ROLES OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION WITHIN THE

STRUGGLE OF REDUCING POVERTY

Yusuf Can Gokmen

EGE UNIVERSITY-Int.Relations

BIALYSTOK,2010

Introduction : What is local administration?

Local administrations, with a simple definition, are constitutional foundations which are founded in legal law order for offsetting shared and local necessities of people that live in every kind of size communities within national borders.

Comprehensively, Local government refers collectively administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than states. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation state level, which are referred to as the central government or(where appropriate) federal government.

Introduction : What is local administration?

The institutions of local governments vary between countries , and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Common names for local government entities include state, province, region, department, country, prefecture, district, city, township, town, borough, parish, municipality, shire and village.

The European Charter of Local Self- Government

The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe’s member states on 15 October 1985.

The Charter commits the ratifying member states to assuring the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities. It provides that the principle of local self-government shall be recognized in domestic legislation and, where practicable, in the constitution. Local authorities are to be elected by universal suffrage, and it is the earliest legal instrument to set out the principle of subsidiarity.

Local Administrations in TURKEY

A Centralised Unitary State

Provinces, Districts and Metropolitan Areas

A Centralised Unitary State

Turkey is parliamentary democracy, founded in 1923, with a strong secular republican constitutional tradition, owing to its origins as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire and the role of the 1922 revolution. The Turkish constitution proclaims it to be a centralised unitary state. In terms of national functions the largely ceremonial presidency is elected on a five-yearly term, with executive power vested in the prime minister and their cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the largest party in Turkey’s unicameral Grand National Assembly, which consists of 550 members elected under proportional representation on a largely provincial basis.

Provinces, Districts and Metropolitans

The centralised character of the Turkish constitution, the most recent being the 1982 document, is demonstrated through its provinces (formerly governorates), which are headed by governors appointed by the national cabinet and answerable to the Ministry of Interior. The system is largely a continuation of Ottoman tradition in administering

the various quarters of the empire, albeit with the introduction of the influence of the French prefectural system. In addition to performing the executive tasks, provincial governors also head the provincial assembly, elected every five years. Governors generally take the lead in economic affairs and directions from

central government but provinces also play a role in agriculture and further education.

Provinces, Districts and Metropolitan

Areas At the district level, the executive head is the mayor, directly elected since

1963. While the mayor is directly elected on a five year term, the provincial governor still has scope to intervene in the affairs of each municipality under their jurisdiction and the mayor simply leads a group of senior local officials in their tasks. The districts vary in status, for instance the principal district of a province will be administered by an appointed vice governor, while a village is headed by a chief rather than a mayor. The functions exercised at this level are largely concerned with matters of civil registration, land, posts and telecommunications and basic education. Turkey’s capital Ankara is known as its republican capital owing to the pre-

eminence of the Ottoman citadel of Istanbul (also known globally as Constantinople). Istanbul forms the Greater Istanbul municipality (which is also one of Turkey’s 81 provinces), headed by the metropolitan mayor and the metropolitan council (consisting of 31 district mayors and one fifth of district councillors). Istanbul is one of three metropolitan municipalities introduced following the end of military rule in 1984, the others being Ankara and Izmir.

POVERTY

Poverty refers being unable to afford basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter.This is also referred to as absolute poverty.

Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country, or compared to worldwide averages.

Three Aspects of Poverty

Poverty of Money

Poverty of Access

Poverty of Power

Three Aspects of Poverty

Poverty essentially has three closely interrelated aspects: “poverty of money”, “poverty of access” and “poverty of power.” These make the working, living and social environments of the poor extremely insecure and severely limit the options available to them to improve their lives. Without choices and security, breaking the cycle of poverty becomes virtually impossible and leads to the marginalization and alienation of the poor from society.

Measuring Poverty

The extent and nature of poverty, as defined by its three aspects and its impact on marginalizing and alienating segments of the urban society, are difficult to measure. UNDP’s Human Development Index is an attempt to compile and compare all the above aspects of poverty. As the Human Development Report of 1999 shows, the extent and nature

of poverty vary considerably in countries of Asia and the Pacific, and that of urban poverty varies considerably between countries, between rural and urban areas, among urban areas within a particular country, among neighbourhoods of a given urban area and even within neighbourhoods. Poverty also has a gender dimension. In most countries, the poorest of the

poor tend to be households headed by women. Even within the family unit, the poverties of money, access and power vary based on gender, with women and female children suffering more than their male counterparts. Thus to meaningfully measure poverty, disaggregated data and information are often needed, which in many countries do not exist.

Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor

While developing countries have been struggling to alleviate poverty for some time now, they are also facing new challenges posed by globalization. There are two fundamental and interrelated globalization trends

sweeping the region at present: globalization of economies and globalization of information. Both these trends are fundamentally changing not only the economies

of the countries of Asia and the Pacific, but also their environments, cultures and societies. These trends are likely to affect the urban poor adversely as they

threaten to widen the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in society. Those with capital and access to information and the ability to

translate that information into economic, political and social gain, will benefit from globalization.

Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor

Government budget cuts, particularly in areas such as education and health, have reduced the level of services available to some of the poor. The removal of most subsidies will probably not adversely affect a majority of the poor since they do not have access to them in the first place. What will perhaps indirectly and adversely affect the poor are the massive lay-offs that accompany “right-sizing governments” and privatizing government-owned firms and enterprises.

Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor

Moreover, integration in the global economy also means increased vulnerability of economies to downturns in global markets.

Globalization of information means greater exposure to consumerism and higher expectations among urban populations, which, given the above trends, are unlikely to be met for a majority of the urban poor. Higher expectations that remain unachievable can become causes for social, ethnic and religious violence.

Actions at the Regional Level 1

Most efforts to alleviate poverty must be taken at the national, sub-national and local levels. Regional efforts should concentrate on supporting efforts at the country level. Moreover, these efforts should concentrate on actions that either cannot be done at the national level, such as exchange of experience and information, or on actions that, because of economies of scale can be done more effectively at the regional level, such as comparative research or norm setting. Given these two criteria, these regional actions are suggested:

Further refining disaggregated indicators on urban poverty that would enable policy-makers to measure and understand both the extent and nature of urban poverty;

Actions at the Regional Level 2

Documenting and disseminating innovations, networking and promoting exchange of experience and information among governmental, non-governmental and community-based organizations as well as research and training institutions on various aspects of urban poverty, to encourage learning from each other;

Undertaking comparative action research on cutting-edge issues and alternative development approaches such as integrating the economies of the poor into the formal global economy, decentralized community-based waste management systems, and community-based safety-nets, using information technologies in capacity-building of local governments, among others;

Actions at the Regional Level 3

Promoting debate and discussion among national and local policy-makers on cutting-edge issues, approaches, policies and strategies to alleviate poverty; and

Advocating such issues as decentralization and devolution, partnerships among organizations of the poor and other urban actors, security of tenure and good governance.

Thanks For Your Listening