Local Governance Quality in Türkiye and ELoGE
This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the implementation, dissemination, and development process of the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) of the Council of Europe in Türkiye. It examines the conceptual foundations of ELoGE, its alignment with the legal framework, its methodology, and recommendations for future improvements. Prepared with reference to the initiatives launched and carried forward under the leadership of the Argüden Governance Academy since 2022, the report aims to transfer experience and foster capacity development for local governments, central government institutions, civil society organizations, and academia.
Local governments need to strengthen quality of their governance practices in order to create public value in a more holistic, inclusive, and effective manner in an era of global crises, increasing urbanization, and the resulting shifts in societal expectations. In particular, investing more in good governance at the local level will be beneficial for safeguarding and strengthening democracy, ensuring sustainable development, and continuously improving quality of life.
ELoGE is an evidence-based assessment and development framework that translates the Council of Europe’s 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance (as updated in 2024) into concrete objectives and indicators in a holistic manner. It enables local authorities to measure and improve their governance quality and to benchmark themselves against an international standard. ELoGE contributes to enhancing decision-making quality, efficiency in the use of resources, stakeholder participation and cooperation, transparency, accountability, and ultimately trust-based relationships with all stakeholders. In addition, it offers international recognition and access to networks of good practice.
The Turkish experience began in 2022 as a pilot implementation with Sultanbeyli and Şişli Municipalities. ELoGE can be awarded to municipalities for a one-year period only; procedure requires a renewed application each year and evaluation by an independent jury. Interes tto the ELoGE among municipalities has increased steadily. As of the 2025 application results, 16 municipalities qualified to receive the ELoGE label. This process has contributed to the strengthening good governance practices within municipalities and to the development of a culture of measurement, evaluation, and continuous improvement. Throughout the process, the following improvement areas have been identified:
- greater engagement by senior leadership
- the dissemination of a governance culture across all organizational units
- closing capacity gaps
- deepening participation mechanisms
- more effective use of technology.
In this context, it is considered beneficial to:
- strengthen the supportive role of central government and municipal associations as a priority
- form units that are working on improvement of quality of governance practices within local governments
- support the continuous improvement of governance practices
- ensure systematic reporting of undertaken activities
- coordinate integration with digitalization efforts
- develop financial incentive mechanisms.
ELoGE should be regarded not merely as a label, but as a transformation tool aimed at embedding and continuously enhancing democracy and a culture of good governance within local governments. The four-year experience in Turkey has demonstrated the tangible benefits of this tool and indicated that its importance will increase in the coming period. Integration of ELoGE’s transformational and improvement approach to local government processes and practices through collaborative efforts of public, civil, and private sector actors will make a significant contribution to building a more democratic, just, prosperous, and trustworthy future.
