Во последните дваесет години во нашата држава значително се зголемува улогата на граѓанските организации во процесот на развој на демократското општество, унапредувањето на нивото на демократија и квалитетот на животот на локално и национално ниво. Нивната успешност во реализирањето на овие цели во голема мера зависи од соработката со локалните власти и поддршката што ја добиваат од нив. 

The role of the citizen is fundamental for the continual improvement of the performance of democratic institutions, and, not least, for the very survival of democracy. In recent years, we have seen numerous examples of people-led movements across all continents. In the vast majority of cases, citizens are not protesting against democracy, but rather they are demanding more democracy and higher quality democracy.

Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI), as one of the programs of the Open Society Institute (OSI), is an international development and grant-giving organization dedicated to the support of good governance in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). LGI seeks to fulfill its mission through the initiation of research and support of development and operational activities in the fields of decentralization, public policy formation and the reform of public administration.

In this issue, we additionally refer to the role of the Council of the local government unit, ie the activities and competencies performed by municipal councilors. The manual has great symbolic significance for ZELS and municipalities, because through it ZELS, establishes the first step of mutual communication with the newly elected structures in all its members. These are all 80 municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia, together with the City of Skopje, as a separate unit of the local government. The handbook also opens the horizon for further joint lobbying to improve legislation and ensure greater financial independence of municipalities, strengthened municipal councils, the creation of effective and efficient administration and better municipal services. In particular, the manual should provide the basis for further improvement of joint efforts to provide modern European municipalities, in which citizens will have good living conditions and quality services.