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Local Government Reforms in Georgia and their Impact on State-Society Relations
Journal
Eurasian Geography and Economics
ISSN
1538-7216
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2017
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper studies how the local governance reforms carried out between 1997–2014 shape state-society relations at Georgia’s local level. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of governmentality, I analyze how the reforms shape practices and actors at the local level. Research interviews with state officials at the national and subnational levels and citizens of the Georgian district Marneuli highlight both government rationalities and how people react to them. I argue that the reforms, which have been declared to promote participation and accountability, hardly contribute to bridging the huge gap between state and society, particularly with respect to the case of the Azeri minority in Marneuli. Thus far, the newly introduced formal actors at the local level, the municipalities, lack power. Societal action in absence of the state and interaction with the state via informal networks remains dominant. The study contributes to literature on state-building and transformation in Georgia by shedding light on the often-neglected local level and to the debate on external democracy promotion and policy transfer by empirically studying the effect of a policy transfer.
Language
English
Keywords
local governance
Georgia
transition countries
Azerbaijani minority
policy transfer
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SEPS - Global Democratic Governance
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Routledge
Volume
58
Number
5
Start page
481
End page
501
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
253891