ISSUE No. 7/1999

Civil Initiative: Preparedness And Ideological Constraints

by Docho Mihailov, Manager of A.C.A. Agency for Sociological Research

I am writing this article because I do believe that local self-government is one of the solutions to the present situation in Bulgaria. And because in real life local self-government, there is still more of the government, than of the self.

It is considered that the weight of that "self" piece would increase by itself if the citizens participated to a greater degree in the immediate management of municipalities through various civil initiatives. Two things are necessary for this to happen: first, the people should not only want but also be able to organize themselves; and, second, the local government should agree to share its power with the citizens.

Let us suppose that most of the mayors and municipal councils are willing to share their power with those who are governed, because they believe that civil initiative will strengthen their power, instead of pose threats to it. However, let us put ourselves in the shoes of the people who are expected to self-govern themselves. Or, let us formulate the case in a different way: let us leave aside the role of local administrators or of analysts, and let us ask ourselves: how shall we solve our personal problems by means of a civil initiative? A recent study* shows that Bulgaria would be a better place to live in, if the rate of unemployment decreases (74.1%); if health care is improved (39.4%); and if corruption is reduced (34.7%). Several of our studies show that people expect their major problems to be resolved by the central government rather than by the municipality, and least of all by initiatives of their own. They expect much from the State and from its social policy: the possibility for the State to withdraw from the economy as a condition for Bulgaria to become a better place to live in, is at the bottom of the list(!). Only 5.1 per cent of the citizens of five Balkan municipalities believe that the municipality can contribute to an increase in the income. As a matter of fact, what civil initiative would you start, if you lose your job, or fall ill and have no money for medicines? Corruption is a different matter but in that case it appears to me that the initiative is in the hands of the local administration.

Let us be constructive: What is the potential (resources) for civil initiatives as expressed in the attitudes and views of the people, the way they are?

Out of the municipal functions, the issue of cleanliness seems to possess the highest potential for civil initiative - 82.6 per cent believe that it can be resolved by personal initiative. Another option for a possible solutions to the problem of cleanliness, municipal waste disposal companies, ranks far below (59.6 per cent), and only 9.9 per cent expect that the State will resolve the issue by means of subsidies. In any case, the willingness of citizens to keep their town or village clean should not be exaggerated. Years ago, when I was in fourth grade, comrade C. would teach us that when we have finished eating a bun, we should not throw the wrapping paper in the street but put it in our pocket and look for a garbage-bin, and if there is no garbage-bin around, carry it with us (!) until we see one down the street.

Children are another topic that supposes higher activity on the part of the citizens. It seems that the traditional understanding about the Bulgarians as lifetime parents is beginning to change: 69.1 per cent would like to have their children looking for a job themselves. The above indicator of personal initiative is higher among businessmen (72.8 per cent), young people (70.1 per cent) and university graduates (79.9 per cent). What we have here is the recognition of the fact that the resources of the State are limited and will continue to go down. Still, the State ranks second in the list of institutions, which are responsible for employment, and it is before the labour market in the list (employment agencies account for 37.2 per cent). To the question "Who should be responsible for the impovement of the current flaws formal education system?", people turn again to the government (80.6 per cent).

In any case, the readiness for civil initiative in the sector of education is obvious from the fact that 44.1 per cent of the respondents would become members of a parents' committee, which would manage or exercise control over the school their child attends.

Therefore, when civil initiative is placed in a practical and distinguishable context, it does not seem all that impossible. I wonder whether the reason for people being more likely to participate in initiatives in the area of cleanliness is not a matter of an old habit: is it because of the subotniks (Under the Communist regime, everybody had to come out and clean the neighbourhood several times a year, on Saturdays; exceptions were not allowed - N.Tr.)? But people would hardly want to witness a recurrence of ideologizing of such an immediate human need as cleanliness.

One should keep this in mind, for civil society and civil initiative could easily turn into new ideological concepts and cliches, once they become devoid of real civil practices. (Today, 10 years since the start of transition, one can see a poster in the Western Park in Sofia, which says, "Let us turn the Municipality of Ilinden into a model of local self-government!" The people's preparedness to join in or to accept one or another civil initiative as a workable initiative of their own, is extremely important.

Local media are another mechanism that is capable of not only provoking, but also generating civil participation, no matter whether one wants this or not. As Umberto Eco says, the TV set is a household electric appliance. Unlike other electric appliances, it calls for a dialogue; this should be the ultimate goal of civil initiatives. According to the study quoted above, 87.5 per cent of the respondents get informed by the state television, 20.6 per cent by cable operators, and 16.8 per cent by private TV companies. The same is true of the press: 49.1 per cent rely on the central newspapers, and only 9.7 per cent on local press. The challenge for the media lies in the fact that, from their point of view, something happens when they (the media) have information about it, rather than when people think that something has happened indeed. Therefore, if the municipality wants something to happen in it, and not in the State, it should become an open partner to local media. However, it would be erroneous to suppose that such a partnership would be useful only if the municipality's achievements, failures caused by external factors, or failures of the opposition are covered. In Italy, for example, some editors order critical articles about their own paper to increase its circulation.

Before I stop writing about what a municipality should do, instead of writing about what the citizens should do, I would dwell upon a widely used theme - that of the small and medium-sized businesses. If unemployment is the biggest problem for all, perhaps a private business is the best civil initiative one could undertake. If we go back to figures, we shall see that 45.2 per cent of those who have business experience would rather see their children employed in the state sector - a disturbing indicator of the success and security of the business sector. According to some of our studies, about half (7.7 per cent) of the private entrepreneurs (a total of 16 - 17 per cent) claim that their business is not successful; at the same time, about the same number of newcomers (15 per cent) plan to go private. Consequently, there are still some who wish to try. For its part, the political йlite is aware of the importance of the issue, for it hopes that the private business will shoulder the results of the restructuring and will replenish the budget. The support of the private business is a priority matter of Bulgaria's main donors as well. There is also consensus on the existing obstacles before the business: everybody seems to understand that there is no access to capital, that the macro-economic environment is unstable, that there is corruption. At the same time, however, people do not want to mortgage their house, nor do banks offer reasonable rates on credits. We live in a paradoxical situation where everyone sponsors the development of the small business, yet everyone is aware of the impediments to it. Regardless of the situation, the йlite (not only the ruling one) fails to convince the public that the obstacles have been removed, and the citizens show no initiative to remove them.

We are faced with the prospect of turning the small and medium-sized businesses and civil society into a myth. Sometimes, the small businesses and civil society remind me of the tenets (good spirit - N.Tr.) from Radichkov's short stories - nobody has ever seen it but in the evening one can hear it doing a lot of useful things - clean the snow from the roof, feed the animals, mend the trap for the magpie, etc.

So what? Is it possible for civil initiatives to become an effective part of local self-government? I think the answer lies more in the word initiative than in the word civil. Initiative is always ruled by a motivation, be it mercantile or moral, and it generates a real impact on the personality. The civil effect, the birth of a civil consciousness could hardly be the immediate objective of personal initiatives, except in practices, which are characterized by ideological constraints. This is why every visit to the buildings of the local administration, either because of a water leakage problem, unproved corruption or a row in the neighbourhood, is in fact a form of personal civil initiative. If we want to provoke other civil initiatives, which we believe to be more important, we must be certain that they will be understood by the citizens as personal initiatives, which will really influence their daily life. One of the ways to follow the developments is by checking public opinion, no matter how imperfect sociological studies can be.

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* The article uses data from A.C.A. opinion surveys financed by the UNDP and the Swiss Embassy in Sofia.