Institute of Development Studies

New evidence on how citizen participation in local government can improve the lives of poor people

9 December 2009

The latest issue of the IDS Bulletin ‘Hybrid Public Action' provides new evidence that citizen participation in local government has a positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of poor people.

Until now, despite growing support for citizen participation in local government, little has been known about the actual impact participation has on poverty, inequality and exclusion.

Written by practitioners and activists very close to the ground, that latest IDS Bulletin gives a rare and unique insight into the real-life bargaining that goes on between local politicians, community groups, activists and citizens in the struggle to get the services poor people need.

Co-editor, Naomi Hossain said: ‘there is lots of evidence that citizen participation in local government has had a positive impact on improved governance processes but much less evidence on its impact on people's material wellbeing. By that I mean people's ability to regularly and reliably access and make use of public services that actively contribute to their livelihoods and sense of security.'

The UK government has high hopes for the potential and actual role of citizen involvement in public service delivery. A significant percentage of the UK aid budget is spent on participation in development, and promoting participation forms an important part of local government strategies. Only last week, the UK Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton signed an historic democratic agreement recognising the rights of citizens across Europe to have their views heard by their local leaders.

This issue of the IDS Bulletin, the flagship journal of the Institute of Development Studies, UK, published by Wiley-Blackwell, presents new evidence on how people's lives and livelihoods can benefit from their active involvement in decisions about public services.

The Bulletin presents case studies from eight different countries, including China, India and Brazil. Each shows how the introduction of participatory governance has contributed to changes in public service delivery and what impact this has had on poor people's lives.

The case studies reveal striking insights into how relationships are built to bolster alliances, strike bargains, and develop trust between the citizens, communities and public institutions that interact to bring about change in public service delivery, and ultimately social change and public happiness.

‘Participation alone does not guarantee success. For local governance initiatives to be effective, negotiation and bargaining between citizens and public institutions is essential and part of the accountability mechanism', explained Hossain. The Bulletin unmasks the hybrid character of the relationships that are forged during this bargaining process. Nina Best of Logolink explained, ‘at times the relationships between citizens and local governments can be collaborative (for example, through co-management or co-financing of public services) and at others confrontational (for example holding government representatives to account, or outright protest against government initiatives). Yet both are critical in ensuring effective, accountable and transparent governments, key to deepening democracy.'

On the role of the public sector in supporting citizen participation in local government, co-editor Peter Spink the Getulio Vargas Foundation added ‘equally important as community-based organisations, social movements and NGO networks, are key actors in the public sector who are able to open doors or build bridges between the institutional environment, the public sector and the day-to-day of community life'.

Notes for Editors

• Available for interview:
  Naomi Hossain, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, UK
  Peter Spink, Research Co-ordinator, Senior Professor of Public Administration and Government, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil
  Nina Best, Research Co-coordinator, LogoLink International Programme Assistant-Coordinator, Brazil
• To request an interview please contact:
  Carol Smithyes, c.smithyes@ids.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)12373 915636
• ‘Public Hybrid Action', IDS Bulletin 40.6 was produced by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, published by Wiley-Blackwell and funded by the UK Department for International Development. For more information see: http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/idspublication/hybrid-public-action
• The Institute of Development Studies is a leading global organisation for research, teaching and communications on international development.
• The production of this IDS Bulletin was made possible through the support of LogoLink, a global network of practitioners from civil society organisations, research institutions and governments.