Civic Activism and Civic Participation as Factors in the Development of Decentralization of Power (Case of France)

The growing role of citizens in public administration at various levels reflects contemporary societal needs and trends. Civic engagement is an important factor in the development of democratic societies, but its forms vary depending on the socio-political context. Studying the experience of civic participation in decentralization processes offers the opportunity to model social governance. In this regard, the experience of the European country of France provides an important foundation for the development of a sociological theory of political participation.
The purpose of this article is to identify the potential of civic participation and civic engagement in the development of socio-political mechanisms for the decentralization of power (using France as an example).
The scientific significance of this study lies in identifying factors that positively and negatively influence the potential for increased citizen participation in public administration at various levels; this allows us to identify the key socio-political conditions under which such participation is optimal.
The practical significance of this study lies in the potential application of the obtained results and conclusions to the practice of state and municipal administration in Russia.
The scientific novelty of the results lies in the systematization of the experience of civic participation in governance and the development of forms of participatory democracy to enable scientific modeling of socio-political processes of power decentralization.

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