"Policies for overcoming the imbalance concerning the access to constitutional rights of citizens of different municipalities"

Project contactor: ISI

Implementation period: February - October 2005

Source of funding: "Open Society” Institute

Motivation for the project: A series of studies and analyzes that recorded an upward trend in the “dissolution of scissors” and difference in the use of constitutional rights as well as different access to information and public services. This trend is also illustrated by a survey, conducted by a team from the Institute of Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, among the working population of the country in the 15^th year of the transition.

Nearly 43% of the Bulgarians rely on personal connections in order to rise in society and to raise their standard of living, and 60% expect the state to take care of health and education. The study also recorded great division between rich and poor - over 77% define themselves as poor, 37% of the working citizens see themselves as being in a very difficult financial situation, while only 14% identify themselves as being in good financial state, and 1% - in very good. The conclusions are that poverty leads to passivity, which in turn increasingly strengthens the imbalance in use of constitutional rights, public services and information. This creates different types of citizens - of the capital, the big city, the small town and the undeveloped village.

That gives the team of ISI reason to make typological characteristics of the population with two key indicators: people have the same values​​ but grade them differently, and people have equal access to various constitutional rights but different possibilities for their "consumption"; as well as to develop policies to address this imbalance.

Project objective: To develop and debate publicly policies to address the imbalance in opportunities to access various constitutional rights in the small municipalities and the underdeveloped regions.

Activities of the project: research, expert & consultancy, design, monitoring and media coverage.

Results achieved: Active project involvement of 320 people in the discussions of best practices/policies to address the imbalance when using our constitutional rights, access to information and public services in the municipalities of Chuprene, Dupnitsa, Lovech, Sofia.