7th International Conference on Public Administration, Chengdu, China, 18 - 20 October 2011, pp.446-456
"Functions of organization have been determined by dominating bureaucrats in power". Thus if this is also true for "change process" (Ortayli (2000: 1-2), in twentieth century, administrative apparatus had changed very slowly. This also suggests that in order to better understand administrative structures, one should study administrative history. In Anatolia, where Turkey has placed geographically since X-XII centuries, a traditional culture has been living, and regional characteristics have dominated besides a central government system. We can have a look at this old world to better understand this new world: It has been the place where 'writings had been used, bureaucracy and urbanization came into existence'. In terms of municipal governance, a traditional pattern would be traced as active local interaction partners. This paper tries to reflect on some traditional patterns to interpret today's municipalities of Turkey. It also refers modern urban interest groups and citizen participation.