Strengthening Citizen Participation in Local Governance

               This post is a summary of two articles. The first with the title above, was published at  https://www.newtactics.org/conversation/strengthening-citizen-participation-local-governance. The second was published at  http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPagehandlehein.journals/hhrj1& 

           The involvement of citizens in the political process is an essential part of democracy. Tactics and strategies for increased citizen participation in local governance can be seen around the globe. In the municipality of Nejapa, El Salvador, the municipal government partnered with local NGOs and sought to increases in access to potable water, latrines and eletricity. In India, Mazdoor Sangathan has been deeply involved in a collective prrocess which has shaped and influenced the campaign for the right to information in India. Mazdoor makes the case that without access to information and transparency there can be no genuine participation of all members of society, particularly the poor in democracy. What does it mean to strengthen citizen participation in local governance and why is it important? Citizen participation in local governance involves ordinary citizens assessing their own needs and participation in local project planning and budget monitoring. It is important for improving public resource management and reducing corruption, by making public servants and political leaders accountable to the people. For citizen participation to work, transparency of government information is needed, as well as the inclusion of members into decision-making process from groups whose concerns are beings addressed. Civil and political rights, including freedom of expression and access to information, which are at the basis of political participation, are human rights in themselves. Citizens participation requires trust, belief and wholeness - trust in their co-participants, belief that participation can make a difference, and feeling socially included. To ensure strong participation of citizens in local governance, citizens need to understand and want to exercise their right to participate in local issues. They need to feel confident and know where and how to participate, while local institutions should be prepared to facilitate the citizens participation. Engaging citizens in local governance improves accountability and the ability of local authorities to solve problems, creates more cohesive communities, and increases the numbers and quality of initiatives made by communities. One way to increase awareness and to empower citizens to have a voice is through increased access to technology and in particular social media. The potential of social media in conflict regions is especially interesting, for opening spaces for debate and dialogue and improving transparency and hidden social structures that generate corruption. A project in Pakistan is building the capacity of teachers to teach good governance, human rights, gender and youth development, and the positive role of media in promoting these concepts. Around the world, community based organizations do much to bring about real social transformation and empowerment of people: the Civil Rights movement of U.S., the Dalits movements in India, the Labor Rights in Russia, and the Women's Rights movements across the globe serve as example that people do not need to be socio-economically well off or even highly educated. What is most important is the ownership of people with commitment to the mission of the movement. How does effectively strengthen citizen participation in local governance? It was identified many adjustments in tactics that promote more effective and sustained citizen participation in local governance: understanding and using formal institutions of power, electing and appointing local officials, and bringing together citizens's groups and government officials to jointly formulate programs. A project in Uganda is working to create an interactive platform to provide stakeholders with key information, bring together the various actors involved in local governance, empower citizens ro demand accountability from elected leaders, and ensure equitable distribution and provision of goods and services. In Cambodia, volunteers with mobile phones with cameras monitor if elected representatives keep their election promises. Education and training are crucial in empowering citizens to effectively participate in local governance, especially in communities that have experienced significant political changes and must quickly learn how to find and vet political intelligence. In Brazil, a NGO trained police officers to help them understand the vital role they can play as defenders of human rights as well as the many advantages of interactive security. In the Phillipines, Education for Life complements the official government training for local officials on formal aspects of governance by focusing to reach the marginalized and train communities in appraisal, development planning and peace building. In Latin America as a whole, political parties have been very important in promoting and adopting citizen participation processes and examples show the importance of an accessible participatory budget in decentralizing the power and being in a municipality where the political elite does not vehemently opposed new channels of citizen participation. How does measure the impact of stronger citizen participation? The first step is to build a theory of change around citizen participation which needs to be periodically revisited. Next, indicators measuring short and long term change must be identified. Because the path of progress can not be predicted, there is a need to remain alert to changes, positive or negative. In some cases, it may take many years for the desired impact to be noticed. But every project should have clear phases after which an evaluation can be conducted and see if any progress has been achieved. The media, particularly citizen journalism ( blogs and social media ) can also be used to measure the impact of citizen participation. Another method of measuring change around citizen participation is outcome mapping, which facilitate in measuring indicators that are meaningful, helps to understand power at local levels and can be a great tool for integrating monitoring fully into management decisions in what needs to be an adaptive, opportunistic program to be successful. Studies of participatory budgeting (PB) have documented important effects on the quality of local democracy, on government spending patterns, on living conditions,and on participation. While these effects have not seen in all places using PB, there is growing evidence that when practiced well, over time PB has significant, positive, and measurable impacts. In Portugal, municipalities that have been nurturing PB invite citizens to participate in the process online and in so doing target a different group who usually participate in in-person meetings or regular assemblies. Adopting PB is a political decision that has to be decided by the board of a municipality and particularly by its mayor. What challenges has to be faced? How does overcome them? When developing a local agenda, it is important to consider citizenship rights, democratization, plurality and rights of minorities. Stimulating interaction between the public and civil actors at the local level allows information to reach local stakeholders, providing them with a holistic view of the actors and relations involved, helping local actors make better-informed decisions on strategic routes to take for participation in their local settings. Undertaking nuanced analysis is key. Participation in local government can only be effective if its context is appropriate. One weakness of analysis is focusing on how things are 'meant' to happen, highlighting the need for a deliberately deep and wide analysis of power relations in local context. Furthermore, not knowing the external players is another problem leading to many programs choosing to focus on short term gains or minor matters and not really making a long term difference. Relating experiences at local spaces in iterations with the government is difficult, especially in contexts where citizems do not exercise their rights. To empower civil society organizations, decision makers should be influenced to create a suitable environment for the active participation of citizens and citizens trained in the skills, competences, and methodologies to participate.

                  In the postwar construction of human rights law, the concept of political participation has been an indispensable building block. Countries with markedly different political systems have termed political participation as the vital human right. In its absence, it is said, all others fall to a perilous existence. Governments involke it to justify their own political systems and to delegitimate those of their opponents. Groups struggling for political participation draw broad international support. No one doubt that success in their struggles would open avenues to basic change. For a right regarded as foundational, political participation suffers from serious infirmities. Although distinctive in some respects, the right of political participation forms part of a complex of related rights set forth in the international instruments. It shares with them as essential characteristic of new human rights norms, the claim to a universal validity.