Publications

The publication of Citizens’ Participation in Local Self-Government is the result of the workshop in Sarajevo/Bosnia and Herzegovina (end of September 2001), organised by the Zagreb and Sarajevo office of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung within its regional project ”Local Self-Government and Decentrlisation in South-East Europe”. In the context of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe and in co-operation with national institutions the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung has initiated a regional project to analyse the situation and the reforms of self-government and decentralisation in the countries of the region, covering Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, and Hungary.

The publication is the result of the first phase of the project which resulted in ll case studies in all the Balkan countries (including studies about Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo) and their comparative debates in three regional conferences during the course of 2001. The studies are supposed to offer an overview about the situation and the perspectives of the social dimension of the transition process, and debate the importance social security and employment have for the development strategies in the countries of the region. They analyze success and failures of transformation and reform projects in the social area, and identify the major challenges ahead.