VIENNA – The limited success of “Green Human City” (GHC) and “Chance for Centar” (CfC) leads to the main observation that independent lists can stimulate local democracy, concludes the Policy Brief. “Addressing the local beyond partisan politics. Can independent lists in North Macedonia strengthen local democracy? published published within the WB2EU network.
The Policy Brief recommends forming strategic coalitions with established political parties, based on policy, not loyalty. In doing so, these independent movements will silence accusations that they are “hidden servants” of the big party.
According to the recommendations, broader cooperation with different actors and on various topics is necessary. The Green Humane City and Chance for Centar movements should continue to deliver on their campaign promises, particularly through increased collaboration with other political parties (not just those in city councils).
“Both movements declare themselves independent and aim to return power from political and economic elites to citizens,” note the authors.
According to the authors, movements like GHC and CfC allow citizens to get involved in policymaking at the local level. The key to involving people in this process is to connect with them.
Therefore, the Policy Brief also recommends that “Chance for Centar” follow the “Green Humane City” good practice of conducting public opinion research to gather first-hand information on increased communication between the Ministry of the Information Society and Administration and reluctant institutions in order to convince them of the benefit of being part of the digital system and offering digital services.
The Policy Brief mentions the importance of the actions of GHC and CfC, as they have developed concrete plans to address concrete problems. GHC worked on an air pollution reduction plan, CfC suggested projects that would increase public safety and also suggested issuing a systematization of positions.
The authors highlight the difference between the actions of GHC and CfC, as CfC had only one amendment intervention, while four out of five amendments proposed by GHC were accepted. “This difference could be attributed to the fact that GHC is supported by established organizations with their own human and financial resources,” the authors said.
They said the capabilities of independent organizations, such as civil society organizations, can have a significant influence on these lists. Unlike the GHC, the CfC is made up of lone activists and specialists.
The authors point out that “the successes of the GHC and CfC movements contribute to increasing citizens’ confidence in lists of independent candidates as a true “third voting option” and to mitigating the so-called “wasted vote syndrome”.
It is precisely because citizens’ trust in candidates takes precedence in the first place that there is a fear that the democratic process could be compromised if independent movements do not act in accordance with citizens’ needs.
To obtain citizen feedback on movement activity, communication channels must be developed between movements and their constituents through newsletters, social media, and local rallies.
The Policy Brief mentions that “both initiatives are present on social media platforms, notably Facebook, in terms of publication frequency and two-way communication with citizens”. GHC is also active on the Discord platform which, as the authors point out, “primarily targets young people”.
Since transparency is an important part of democracy, the authors believe that CfC should emulate GHC’s model of transparency and accountability. It is important to mention that one of the CfC’s priorities is “integrated transparency in the publication of relevant information”, but transparency is absent in the work of councilors in the city council.
“GHC and CfC would help strengthen democratic capacity, reduce the risk of manipulation and encourage local debate on issues faced by citizens,” the authors say.
“Nevertheless, as these two examples show, it is much easier to successfully promote the interests of citizens who are not aligned with political parties at the local level rather than at the central level,” the Policy Brief concludes.
The Policy Brief is published as part of the WB2EU project. The project aims to establish a network of renowned think tanks, working groups, universities, higher education institutes and policy centers from the Western Balkans, neighboring countries and EU Member States that will be the most decisive for the process of enlargement and Europeanization of the European Union. the region in the years to come. The WB2EU project is co-financed by the European Commission as part of its Erasmus+ Jean Monnet programme.