TRANSPARENCY AND CORPORATE REPORTING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: APPLICATIONS OF OVACIK MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Local governments are areas where democracy can be directly implemented in democratic
contemporary societies. Local executives and organs are selected by local people to meet the common
needs of local people. They fulfill the duties and authorities determined by law on the basis of
accountability and transparency. But in societies where authoritarianism prevails, local executives
and bodies, even if elected by local people, fulfill the duties and authorities dictated by the central
government, rather than performing activities on the basis of accountability and transparency.
Therefore, authorities and responsibilities are at the discretion of the central management.
Accountability and transparency are directed towards upstream and centralized management.
In contemporary democratic societies, local governments communicate their financial and nonfinancial
reports about the activities they perform and their results in a clear and timely manner to
appropriate local people. In this context, local government executives and organs account for local
people on the basis of transparency. On the contrary, in societies where authoritarianism prevails,
local administrators and organs report the financial and non-financial information determined by the
central government as desired. Naturally, local people do not have enough knowledge about the
resources and their use of local government.
In this framework, the aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of transparency and
corporate governance in local governments and to value Ovacık municipality practices.