Forms of Public Participation in Territorial Development: Legal Models and Digital Mechanisms (Experience of the CIS Member States)

The population acts not only as the main source of public power, but also as a direct subject of its exercise at the local level, independently resolving issues of local importance. Aim. The study is devoted to identifying legal forms, mechanisms and digital tools of public participation in territorial development based on the analysis of constitutional models of local government and strategic planning documents of the CIS member states. Methods. Formal-legal, comparative-legal and systemic-structural methods were used. The constitutional provisions of the CIS states, model acts of the CIS IPA, national strategic planning documents, scientific research on local self-government models and forms of public participation were analyzed. The concepts of interaction and partnership cross-sectoral partnership, cross-sectoral interaction, as well as the concepts of a service state and electronic government are considered. Digital services for interaction between the population and public authorities are considered separately. Results. It was revealed that forms of public participation include direct expression of will (referendum, gathering of citizens, law-making initiative), participation through elected bodies of local self-government and territorial public self-government, as well as consultative forms (public hearings, discussions, surveys); each of them is implemented in a traditional or digital form. It has been established that models of local selfgovernment in the CIS member states differ in the distribution of powers, methods of forming bodies and the nature of interaction between the population and the government. Analysis of strategic documents showed that taking into account the opinion of the population when planning territorial development is enshrined as a principle in only one of them. Conclusion. The degree of public participation depends on the legal model of local self-government and on how much all three groups of participation forms, expressed both in traditional and digital forms, are involved. Digital technologies significantly expand the possibilities of citizen involvement, but require regulatory certainty and technological infrastructure. Public participation in territorial development is a complex of legal, organizational and digital mechanisms. The experience of the CIS member states confirms that the combination of direct forms of expression of will, participation through self-government bodies and consultative procedures, including digital ones, increases engagement citizen engagement in decision-making on territorial development.

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