Dans le courant des années 2000, plusieurs Conseils régionaux en Europe ont produit une action publique spécifique sur la démocratie participative (Poitou-Charentes, Catalogne, Rhône-Alpes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Toscane…). La thèse analyse de manière comparée les dynamiques d'institutionnalisation des « politiques de participation » menées par deux Conseils régionaux : la Toscane et le Nord-Pas-de-Calais. De prime abord, la comparaison donne à voir des politiques régionales structurées de manière relativement similaire : renforcement de la dimension participative de l'action publique régionale ; soutien à la mise en oeuvre de dispositifs participatifs locaux et mise en oeuvre d'un dispositif de débat publicrégional sur les grands projets d'infrastructures.Adossée à une comparaison transnationale éclairant les processus de circulation desdispositifs et le rôle d'experts de la démocratie participative, la thèse montre que la similarité de ces politiques publiques tient en partie à la circulation de standards internationaux et à l'homologie de position de ces institutions dans l'ordre politico-administratif national. Néanmoins, en prêtant attention au cas particulier de la circulation du modèle du débat public français, dans et entre ces deux Régions, et à son appropriation différenciée, l'analyse amène à relativiser la thèse de la convergence mimétique de ces politiques publiques. Ellesapparaissent en effet différentes au regard de leur structure et des dispositifs participatifs qu'elles produisent.La question de la convergence/divergence de ces politiques régionales est rendue d'autant plus complexe que les acteurs régionaux de ces offres régionales, pris dans les contraintes inhérentes au jeu institutionnel, participent d'une remise quasi-permanente de la politique sur le métier de la réforme. L’analyse révèle alors une mise en institution à la fois ordinaire (élus délégués, fonctionnaires spécialisés, budgets dédiés) et indéterminée de la démocratie participative : les orientations politiques peinent à se définir tandis que les dispositifs sontsans cesse re-questionnés. L'étude sur le long terme de la mise en oeuvre de ces politiques et de leur réforme donne en effet à voir un arrimage institutionnel ambivalent, à la fois durable et toujours en mouvement, autrement dit, inconsistant. / Over the course of the 2000s, several Regional councils in Europe produced specific public policies of participatory democracy (Poitou-Charentes, Catalonia, Rhône-Alpes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Tuscany, etc.) This thesis is a comparative analysis of the dynamics of institutionalisation of “participatory policies” held by two Regional councils: Tuscany and Nord-Pas-de-Calais. At first glance, the comparison shows the structures of the two regional policies are relatively similar : strengthening of the participatory dimension within regionalpublic action; public support for the implementation of local participatory planning and implementation of regional public discussion planning in the framework of major infrastructure projects. Along with a transnational comparison enlightening the processes of participatory planning's circulation and the role of the experts within the field of participatory democracy, the thesis shows that the analogy between these two public policies stands partly in the effective circulation of international standards as well as in the similar position held bythe two institutions within the national politico-administrative system. However, paying attention to the special case of the circulation of the public discussion's french model within and between those two regions, and its differentiated appropriation, the analysis leads to put in perspective the thesis that states the mimetic convergence of these public policies. They actually seem to be different with regard to their structure and the participatory planning they produce.The question of the convergence/divergence of these two regional policies is even more complex as the regional players providing the participatory offers at regional level, caught up in the constraints of the “institutional game”, contribute to the nearly perpetual reassessment of the policy through successive reforms.T h e analysis then reveals how participatory democracy is institutionalised (elected delegates, specialized civil servants, and dedicated budgets) in an ordinary and undetermined manner: political orientations are hardly defined while the participatory dispositions are continuously reassessed. The long-term study of the implementation process of the policies and their reforms actually shows an ambivalent institutional effort, both sustainable and constantly in motion, but altogether inconsequential.

This Master's thesis deals with the description of the current state of community planning of social services and the mid-term planning of development of social services in the Karlovy Vary region. At the same time, the thesis reflects the historical content which led to the use of the community planning method in The Czech Republic. In the thesis, the author uses examples from abroad and from The Czech Republic that show specific problems especially encountered by organizers planning social services. The author bases his research on his analysis of interviews held with planning coordinators in the Karlovy Vary region. From the coordinators viewpoint, they describe structure and course of social service planning processes in the region. The author also examines the role of users invited into the planning of social services, how planning organizers communicate with those users, and how all representatives evaluate the plan's results. An additional information source regading social services planning dealt with publicly available resources, particularly websites of individual cities and their regions. The objectives of using this sources were to describe the planning of social services in the Karlovy Vary region and to determine its main active players. In conclusion, the author summarizes the...

Conceptually, South Africa is “one sovereign democratic state”, with a three-sphere governmental system operating co-operatively. Each sphere of government has “original” or constitutionally-allocated powers and functions, as well as legislative and executive powers. Thus, the governmental system is a hybrid or one sui generis, not benefiting from appropriate precedents. The status and autonomy given local government makes it somewhat unique in the world. Application of the principle of subsidiarity, and the mandate for local government to be developmental has resulted in the roles and responsibilities of municipalities being substantially increased, notwithstanding that most suffer from a lack of resources and capacity. Local authorities moved from the establishment of the first one in 1682 as providers of basic municipal services on the basis of race and affordability to democratically-elected ‘wall-to-wall’ municipalities in 2000. With 257 municipalities serving a population of 55.6 million, South African local authorities are comparatively large, spatially and demographically. Given the constitutional-statutory framework and the resultant complex operating environment, it is imperative that all municipalities are able to represent their interests in an intelligent, forceful, and unified manner on decision-making institutions to ensure a close fit between policies/programmes and peoples’ needs. Hence, effective municipal representation by knowledgeable, ethical and committed persons is imperative. The study provides a history of representation and local authority ‘development’ and underdevelopment in South Africa; a theoretical basis for representation; a review of formalism and government’s approach to development; co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations as a mechanism to facilitate municipal representation; an analysis local government powers, functions, status, autonomy, objects, rights and duties of municipalities; local participatory and representative democracy; and the establishment of municipalities. The constitutional and statutory provisions provide the foundation and framework to facilitate municipal representation. The study continues by analysing other mechanisms that enable municipal representation; a comparative review of local government and co-operative governance in certain select countries. It goes on to review the formal framework for organised local government in South Africa, including an overview of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). Finally, findings and recommendations are made toward a model for municipal representation in South Africa. / Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. D.