Population Involvement in Dealing with Local Community Problems in the Rural Areas of Latvia

Abstract

The public prefers to express their opinions on the development of the surrounding area, make assessments and comments, as well as participate in surveys. However, the involvement of the public itself in improving the immediate surroundings and in solving the problems of its fellows is not always sufficient. The research aims to determine whether there are differences in public involvement in addressing municipal problems across various population groups within a municipality. The paper presents the results of an extensive survey. The research considered problems within one municipality in Latvia – Jelgava municipality – and analysed the rural territories located in the immediate vicinity of the centre of the municipality as well as those being the furthest from the centre. The results of the research revealed that young people were most satisfied with their lives in their municipality if their places of residence were closer to the centre of the municipality. The ability to influence the decisions of one’s own local government was highly valued by residents in the age group from 26 to 44 years in the rural territories that were in the immediate vicinity of the centre the municipality, yet this possibility was most often rated as weak among the youth living in the most remote rural territories from the centre of the municipality. Population involvement in solving a problem relevant to the society was the most frequently used way when the population requested a municipal employee to solve this problem. A large segment of the society in rural areas admitted that they did nothing, and this passivity was also evident in the group of young people who lived further away from the centre of the municipality. The involvement of the population in national-level public activities across all age groups and territories was quite equal, as the active population were involved in Saeima elections, campaigns for collecting signatures and donating various thing