An Attempt of a Local Government Monography Method in Ankara: The Example of Çankaya Municipality

Abstract

In today’s world, cities and local governments transform rapidly. The pace and quality of this transformation make it harder to research, scrutinize and record it through looking into different contexts and cases. Problems are faced in collecting local governments’ unique experiences with data coming from the field. These problems not only make it harder for developing new theories, but also hinder the proposal of solutions for practitioners. In this respect, monographic type of studies are needed, important examples of which can be seen in the past and which means in-depth investigation of a person, institution or an event with various dimensions within a certain period. In this study, first of all, emanating from this need, a monographic method is developed for local governments, taking today’s circumstances into consideration. While developing this method, the main issues are determined that should be comprehended for a holistic understanding of local governments in today’s circumstances. With this method, a study was conducted in 2010, using qualitative and quantitative research methods, on the Çankaya Municipality. With this study, the Çankaya Municipality’s monograph for the year 2010 is put forward in the areas of external environment, service provision, decision-making process, use of technology, and communication channels.

Keywords

• Transformation
• Monograph
• Çankaya Municipality
• Holistic approach
• Research area
• Ankara