The review of the literature concerning the political science, public management, and eco-nomic sociology on the articles and volumes of the last thirty years on territorial reorganization, focuses mainly on the organizational aspects coming from the optimal size, in particular on mergers between Municipalities. These studies give little evidence to the participatory issue, provided for the current reference standard. This rule appears more as an instrument of social legitimation of public policies of administrative reorganization instead of real involvement of citizens - as highlighted by some authors. In light of the objective of the research, aimed at analyzing the extent of participatory processes in the context of the merger between Municipalities, the article focuses on the merger processes and the related feasibility studies carried out in Veneto from 2013 to 2018, proving to verify whether there have been real relationships of participation and involvement of citizens (in any case, they are required to ex-press themselves through the consultative referendum).
Keywords: Mergers of Municipalities, Participation, Administrative Efficiency, Optimal Size
Jel Code: D61, H83, P48, R 50