Participation of the Neighborhood Representatives (Mukhtars) into Managerial Activities in Local Level: Burdur Case

Neighborhood representatives (mukhtars) are the nearest administrative units to citizens in local level. It is required to take advantage of that the neighborhood representatives know their districts and residents better than central and local government authorities. In addition, it will be appropriate to the principles of subsidiarity and the European Charter of Local Self Government to determine problems and demands of neighborhoods by their representatives. It is necessary to maintain communication channels and keep close relations with neighborhood representatives by local governments to use that advantage efficiently. It is aimed in this study to determine the participation level of neighborhood representatives into managerial activities in local level. For that purpose, the neighborhood representatives in the center of Burdur province are included in the research. According to the findings, it has been determined that the neighborhood representatives have participated into various activities without experiencing any difficulty, and they have been informed about the services regarding to their neighborhoods, and they have kept close relationship with central and local administrations, and most of them could communicate with local authorities directly. Therefore, it has been concluded that the neighborhood representatives have been influential enough in decision-making mechanisms in local level in Burdur.