Partnerships as an instrument of public participation? The case of Local Action Groups

Abstract

The article presents the specificity of cross-sectoral partnerships in the formula of local action groups created in Poland under the LEADER approach since 2004. Initially, poorly recognized and barely embedded in Polish realities, over the years, the partnership in the LAG formula became an instrument not only for the development of rural areas, but a mechanism for supporting territorial development in general. In the paper, the author analyzes the potential of such partnerships as a tool for activating the local community and increasing the level of public participation. The theoretical framework of the analysis is determined by the concept of participatory governance (with partnerships as a one of the key elements). Based on the results of empirical research and subject literature, the author attempts to verify the following thesis: cross-sectoral partnerships in the LAG formula are not completely a tool of public participation, understood as the involvement of members of local communities in public affairs. Their task-oriented character, institutionalization, dependence from self-government authorities and from external financing, cause that partnerships - although theoretically prepared to play an active role in local development – are actually perceived as an entity distributing financial resources.