Types of Rural Residents in Central Poland in Terms of Their Local Participation: The Perspectives of the Local Authorities and the Inhabitants

This article analyzes the public participation of rural inhabitants in Poland. It aims to identify the types of rural residents in terms of their local participation. In our research, we adopted the triangulation approach involving using two types of data, qualitative and quantitative, from the research including two types of respondents: mayors of rural communes and inhabitants. On this basis, two typologies of rural inhabitants were created, which were then confronted. First, the local authorities’ views on residents’ engagement in public affairs are presented. Free-form interviews with six mayors of selected rural municipalities of the Łódzkie Region in central Poland were conducted. Based on their observations, the typology of rural inhabitants includes two variables, namely, engagement (activity versus passivity) and motivations for an activity, or a lack of it. Second, we analyzed data from a survey conducted among inhabitants of the same rural municipalities concerning their forms of local participation, their interest in public affairs, their satisfaction with different dimensions of local life and local policy, as well as their trust in the local authorities and sense of impact on local policies and management. The distinguished types of rural inhabitants based on these data differ in their levels of public engagement (very active vs. totally inactive) and preferred forms of activity (individual vs. collective and public vs. social). In the comparison of the results of both studies, we confirmed some of the mayors’ observations concerning the most common type of resident, which is alienated people who are not interested in any public activity. The group of fully active residents, who could be partners in local governance for the local authorities, is very small. On the basis of the interviews with mayors, one can suppose that the situation can be used by local authorities as a justification for not involving residents in local public management.