DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE RELATION BETWEEN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND CITIZENS - ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF ELABORATION AND ADOPTION OF THE PUBLIC DECISION

Explaining the relation between public administration and citizens in the decision-making process is not exempt from controversial discussions, in this partnership civil society and decision-makers in the administrative system contribute to real cooperation to adopt decision-making models appropriate to real needs. In this context, this paper aims to achieve the following goal: analysis of theories and various opinions expressed in the literature on the relation between public administration and citizens, to identify their role in the process of elaborating and making public decisions. Through the approach we identified criteria for classifying the categories of participants in the decision-making process in public administration - how to involve them and the administrative level on which the participant is located; we highlighted the way in which the public administration staff contributes to the substantiation of the public decision, in the sense that the quality of the decision act depends on the quality, training and knowledge of the decision maker; we explained the importance of citizen participation in the decision-making process at this level, proving to be a true proof of democracy in society; we presented the forms of citizen participation in the phases of the decision-making process - informing citizens, consulting them and actively participating; we clarified the relation of mutual partnership between public administration - citizens in the process of solving community problems by adopting public decisions appropriate to real social needs.