Empowerment and Decentralization: The Demand Side

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Empowerment and Decentralization The Demand Side

• Deepa Narayan, Senior Advisor
• PREM,World Bank
• March 26, 2003

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Decentralization through an Empowerment Lens
How can Empowered Local Governments Empower Poor
People?

• Efforts to date focused primarily on supply side
• Empowerment approach focuses on demand side
• Empower local communities through mechanisms that
  increase the four elements of empowerment
• Focus on relationship between citizens and local
  governments

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What is Empowerment?

• Empowerment is expansion of the assets and
  capabilities of poor people to participate in,
  negotiate with, influence, control, and hold
  accountable the institutions that affect their
  lives.
• Capability
• Institutions - social, economic, state and global
• Participation and negotiation, voice and
  representation
• Accountability
• It is about change, in capacity of people, and
  the enabling environment

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Empowerment Framework

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations
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Empowerment Framework

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations
ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES

INDIVIDUAL

• Material
• Human
• Social
• Political

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Empowerment Framework

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations
ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES

INDIVIDUAL

• Material
• Human
• Social
• Political

COLLECTIVE

• Voice
• Organization
• Representation

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Empowerment Framework

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations

• SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT
• Information
• Inclusion/
• Participation
• Accountability
• Local
• Organizational
• Capacity

ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES

INDIVIDUAL
Rules, Incentives, Resources

• Material
• Human
• Social
• Political

Norms, Behaviors, Processes
COLLECTIVE

• Voice
• Organization
• Representation

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Empowerment Framework

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations

• SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT
• Information
• Inclusion/
• Participation
• Accountability
• Local
• Organizational
• Capacity

ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES

INDIVIDUAL
Rules, Incentives, Resources

• Material
• Human
• Social
• Political

Norms, Behaviors, Processes
COLLECTIVE

• Voice
• Organization
• Representation

Nature of Social Political Structures
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Empowerment Framework

• Improved governance
• and access to justice
• Functioning and more
• inclusive basic
• services
• More equitable access
• to markets and
• business services
• Strengthened civil
• society
• Strengthened poor
• peoples organizations
• Increased assets and
• freedom of choice

Reform of State Institutions
Local and National
Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations
Development Outcomes

• SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT
• Information
• Inclusion/
• Participation
• Accountability
• Local
• Organizational
• Capacity

ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES

INDIVIDUAL
Rules, Incentives, Resources

• Material
• Human
• Social
• Political

Norms, Behaviors, Processes
COLLECTIVE

• Voice
• Organization
• Representation

Nature of Social Political Structures
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No Single Institutional Model
Principles/Elements of Empowerment
Rights, Resources, and Support to

• Information

• Inclusion/Participation

• Accountability

• Local Organizational Capacity

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Four Elements of Empowerment

• Information
• Ugandas Decentralization Elite capture
• Citizens rely on the media for information about
  national politics (64), but on community leaders
  for local information (70)
• Use of media impacts corruption perception at the
  local level
• Media access has positive effect on quality of
  service delivery
• Inclusion/Participation
• Project Performance in Indonesia
• Study of 48 villages
• 38 of all community development activities
  initiated by communities without any government
  involvement
• Outperformed government activities on every
  outcome measure

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Four Elements of Empowerment

• Accountability
• Corruption in Peru
• Rated most important problem by 85 of public
  service users
• Local governments perform worse than national
  agencies
• Majority of users do not know how to report
  corruption
• Local Organizational Capacity
• COte DIvoire, Water Users Groups
• Responsibility shifted from government to water
  user groups
• Breakdown rates were reduced from 50 to 11
• Results sustained only where well-functioning
  community organizations existed

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Decentralization through an Empowerment Lens
Bolivias Experience

• Law on Popular Participation, 1994
• Empowered communities to oversee actions of
  municipal governments
• Administrative Decentralization Law, 1995
• Redefined roles of administrative departments
• Survey of public officials in Bolivia
• Municipalities with greater transparency and
  citizen involvement have greater poverty
  reduction, less bribery and job purchase
• Only where poor peoples organizations were
  already strong could they take advantage of the
  new laws and openness
• Where local organizations are weak, vested
  interests of political parties dominate

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Voice, Corruption, and Service Delivery in Bolivia
Source World Bank. 2001. Voice of the Poor and
Taming of the Shrew Evidence from the Bolivia
Public Officials Survey.
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Transparency and Corruption in Peru
Composite index based on the percent of
respondents reporting that decisions about
personnel management, bidding procedures and
resource allocation in their own agency are
transparent
Source World Bank Institute. 2001. Voices of
the Misgoverned and Misruled An Empirical
Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and
Corruption for Peru.
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Voice, Accountability, and Corruption in Peru
Composite index describing the existence of a
system of external audit, consumer feedback,
complaint mechanisms for the agency regarding
personnel and budgetary decisions
Source World Bank Institute. 2001. Voices of
the Misgoverned and Misruled An Empirical
Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and
Corruption for Peru.
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What Has to Change?
Community Groups
Local Government
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Community Groups
Local Government