Social capital, public participation and local governance

Abstract

The master’s essay examines the main features of the relationship between social capital, public participation and local governance in the context of the main characteristics of social capital adopted by the majority of authors. Social capital is a combination of economic and social principles, the expression of the connection between people that is demonstrated in the capital of collective action. It also has the ability to convert into other forms of capital. Social capital is viewed from two sides. From the structural side, it represents social networks and from the institutional side represents institutions and norms, embodied in the accumulated trust. Qualitative data were collected from literature and previous researches, and also in-depth interviews were conducted with different experts and representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in order to find out the main forms of public participation especially at the local level that contribute to creating social capital.