A greater importance of civil society in the amalgamation reform

Today’s Estonian local government model is based on a one-level municipality system that centers on the autonomy of local municipalities and a differentiation from the state level. Nowadays, this kind of a model has exhausted its possibilities. In practice, the shift towards a multi-level governance in which the growing importance of the civil society for the organization of local life plays a central role, has become ever more important. In the course of the amalgamation reform it is pivotal to design this kind of decentralized government and service model that strengthens the community’s participation in societal processes and helps to ease the fears of peripheralization in forming larger municipality units. In the interest of bottom-up management it is necessary to decentralize the local municipality’s governance and organization. This would connect the effective representation of local community interest to a participative decision-making process and service provision of the local government. For more information, see: http://uudised.ngo.ee/post/seitse-nippi-haldusreformi-kasutamiseks-kohaliku-valitsemise-suunamisel/