Abstract: Socio-economic development, which is seen around
the world today, has contributed to the emergence of new problems
of a social nature. Different political, historical, geographical or
economic conditions cause that, in addition to global issues of social
policy such as an aging population, unemployment, migration,
countries, regions, there are also specific new problems that require
diagnosis, individualized approach and efficient, planned solutions.
These should include, among others, digital addiction, peer violence,
obesity among children, the problem of ‘legal highs’, stress,
depression, diseases associated with environmental pollution etc. The
central authorities, selected most often with the tools specific to
representative democracy, that is, the general election, for many
reasons, inter alia, organizational, communication, are not able to
effectively diagnose their intensity, territorial distribution, and thus to
effectively fight them. This article aims to show how in Poland,
citizens influence solving problems related to the broader social
policy implemented at the local government level and indicates the
possibilities of improving those solutions. The conclusions of
theoretical analysis have been supported by empirical studies, which
tested the use of instruments of participatory democracy in the
planning and creation of communal strategies for solving social
problems in one of the Polish voivodeships.