Občanská participace na rozvoji obce: případová studie v Kraji Vysočina

This master's thesis examines civic participation in municipal development in the Czech Republic, with a specific focus on the Vysočina Region. The aim of the thesis is to identify and analyze the barriers to civic participation from the citizens' perspective and, based on the findings, to formulate recommendations for improving participatory processes at the local level. The research employs a quantitative design in the form of a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire survey, utilizing exploratory factor analysis as the primary analytical method. The factor analysis reduces the theoretical assumptions into two dimensions: "Institutional Conditions and Municipal Transparency" (external dimension) and "Individual Motivation and Citizen Competence" (internal dimension). The results reveal a contradiction between high internal motivation and competence of citizens on one hand, and rigid institutional settings, low municipal effort to facilitate engagement, and skepticism regarding the actual consideration of public opinions on the other. Based on these findings, specific recommendations are formulated for local authorities to mitigate the identified barriers.