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A number of studies (Commonwealth Foundation,
1999 and Narayan and Chambers 1999)
have highlighted that citizens both in the South and in the
North have increasingly lost faith in their governments as
they realise that their needs are not adequately represented
in their policies and feel increasingly alienated.
In order to tackle this crisis of governance
and for citizens to participate fully in local governance
processes, it is essential that new relationships are built
between governments and ordinary people. And it is not enough
to raise citizens' voice or to increase local government responsiveness.
It is essential to also work on both sides of the equation,
that is in the interaction between the two forces, where meaningful
participatory governance takes place.
An active civil society and a responsive government
are basic ingredients for meaningful participatory local governance.
In both South and North, there is growing consensus that the
way forward is found in a focus on both a more active and
engaged civil society which can express demands of the citizenry,
and a more responsive and effective state which can deliver
needed public services. The degree of intensity by which each
of the parties acts in their own sphere and interact with
the other defines how meaningful citizen participation is
in that particular context.
According to Gaventa (2001)
"rebuilding relationships between citizens and their
local governments means working both sides of the equation:
going beyond civil society or state-based approaches to focus
on their intersection, through new forms of participation,
responsiveness and accountability"
The IDS study by Goetz and
Gaventa extends this argument further by examining
over sixty concrete cases of citizen voice and state responsiveness,
and discusses the mechanisms and conditions through which
they intersect and interact.
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From the perspectives of poor people world wide, there
is a crisis in governance. While the range of institutions
that play important roles in poor people's lives is
vast, poor people are excluded from participation in
governance. State institutions, whether represented
by central ministries or local government are often
neither responsive nor accountable to the poor; rather
the reports details the arrogance and disdain with which
poor people are treated. Poor people see little recourse
to injustice, criminality, abuse and corruption by institutions.
Not surprisingly, poor men and women lack confidence
in the state institutions even though they still express
their willingness to partner with them under fairer
rules
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