Capacity Building for Citizenship

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Capacity Building for Citizenship

• INTRAC
• December 12, 2006
• John Gaventa
• Institute of Development Studies
• (J.Gaventa_at_ids.ac.uk)
• For copies of studies and further materials
• DRC on Citizenship, Participation and
  Accountability www.ids.ac.uk/drc-citizen
• Logolink (Participation and Local Governance)
  www.ids.ac.uk/logolink

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The Context of Participation

• Around the world a key crisis of legitimacy
  characterises the relationship between citizens
  and institutions that affect their lives
• A key challenge therefore is the construction of
  new relationships between ordinary citizens -
  especially the poor and excluded - and
  institutions, especially government.
• In both rich and poor countries, a number of
  initiatives are seeking new ways of
  strengthening citizen participation, on the one
  hand, and government responsiveness on the other.

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Democracy on the march Triumph or deficit?

• One view - The democratic century
• 120 electoral democracies with universal suffrage
  in place at the end of the century compared with
  none at the beginning
• Another view - widespread concern with
  democratic deficits
• Declining political participation
• Failure to meet challenges of poverty and
  inequality
• Scepticism and distrust
• Hollowed out forms of engagement
• Democracy with adjectives Which democracy are we
  talking about?

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Three dimensions of deep democracyadopted from
Fung and Wright
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Constructions of citizenship

• A neo-liberal market approach citizens as
  consumers
• A state-based approach citizens as users
• A thin democracy approach citizens as voters
• A citizen-centred approach sees citizens as
  actors, not as residuals of other institutions.
  Puts citizen empowerment at the heart of
  democratic process

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Participation extends citizenship and deepens
democracy
The right to participation
Participatory citizenship
Citizenship and rights
Considers citizens as the makers and shapers of
policies, not only the users and choosers of
development, or as clients of others
Moves beyond passive engagement in elections to
engagement in policies and decision-making

• Are seen as attained through action, not only
  bestowed by law as actor based, and as
  practice based.

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At level of civil society-state - market
Market
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Deepening democracy through building civil
society

• Civil society seen as independent of the state,
  adding checks and balances to it
• Aiding democracy the democracy template
• free and fair elections
• Democratic institutions
• A strong and active civil society and media, who
  serve the role of advocates and watch dogs.
• Examples many different civil society campaigns
  around human rights, etc.

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Working on both sides of the equation

• Beyond 'civil society' or 'state-based'
  approaches, to focus on their intersection,
  through new forms of participation,
  responsiveness and accountability.

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Orcitizen - civil society organisation -state -
market
Market
Citizens
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Deepening democracy through participatory
governance

• Bringing civil society into the state emergence
  of the co-governance approach
• Examples
• Joint approaches to planning (Philippines,
  Brazil)
• Changing forms of accountability (Bolivia)
• Local direct participation India
• Strengthening inclusive representation of
  locally-elected bodies India and Uganda

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Deepening democracy through deliberation

• Emphasis on reason and dialogue in public spaces,
  not only the state
• The quality of public talk - Trade offs of
  participation and deliberation
• Spawned a host of innovations in practice in both
  north and south
• Examples
• Deliberative polling, citizen juries, large-scale
  consultation, world social forum

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Deepening Democracy through Empowered
Participatory Governance

• Links concerns with participation and
  deliberation to a concern with how such spaces
  are created and supported by the design of public
  institutions
• Beyond invitation participation as a legal
  right
• Examples
• Participatory budgeting and participatory health
  councils in Brazil

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Capacities for Citizenship

• To act as a citizen requires (Merrifield 2002)
• Knowledge, both of rights and a broader awareness
  of a sense of citizenship.
• Abilities the arts of engagement
• Dispositions justice, fairness, democratic
  values, etc
• How are these learned and sustained?

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An emerging pictureCitizenship as

• Robust not passive
• Multidimensional not only political
• Linked to recognition and identity, and around
  concrete issues
• Outside the state but with implications for the
  state

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Lessons for inclusive participation

• Simply creating new invited spaces for
  participation does not mean they will be filled
  with new voices
• Success involves linking
• institutional design,
• political will,
• civil society mobilisation
• Beyond participation fatigue? Try putting real
  power and resources on the table

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Strategies for Accountability

• Multiple citizen - based approaches to
  accountability which can interact with and
  strengthen state-based approaches
• Going beyond technical, accountancy approaches
• Involving empowered citizens as monitors and
  watchdogs of public services

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Assessing the outcomes What difference does
citizen participation in local governance make to
social justice?

• From voice to presence to influence
• Measure both developmental and democracy building
  outcomes
• Combine community empowerment and government
  reform approaches

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Results of linking citizen empowerment with local
governance (from six countries)

• Increased action by citizens and by newly elected
  leaders and officials for improved services and
  accountability
• Some examples of redistribution to poorer
  communities
• New alliances between citizens, officials and
  policy makers
• Stronger more inclusive civil society
  organisations
• Broader changes in government policy above the
  local level
• Increased respect for cultural pluralism and
  diversity in political and public life

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Key factors that make a difference

• Start with the participation of socially excluded
  groups, and building their awareness, power and
  capacities
• Build organisations and networks led by those
  groups directly affected by exclusion and
  inequality
• Promote alliances and creating spaces for
  interaction with allies
• Provide support and accompaniment over time
• Pilot new approaches and spread them

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Lessons and implications

• Go beyond citizens as residuals
• Put citizens at the centre of the process
• Go beyond the institutional design approach to
  empowerment
• Recognise the importance of power, identity
  and moblisation
• Work both sides of the equation
• Link community empowerment and government reform
  to strengthen social justice
• Understand deepening democracy as constructed
  through action from above and below, over time
• Find and support the change agents inside and
  outside government who will help it emerge