What kind of participation may promote poverty reduction? What should donor attitudes be concerning the promotion of ‘participation’ and ‘participatory processes’ of decision-making? This paper by the London School of Economics suggests that discussions about promoting participation must start from, and engage with, the realities of how and where ordinary and poor people actually are organised.
Most people are likely to be mobilised through traditional forms of political organisation and any interventions to promote participation should be concerned with improving the ability of people to exercise voice in those established organisations. Since widespread participation is difficult to sustain, even if it were desirable, attention must be placed on institutionalised forms of political participation and improving the capacity of the state to meet the needs of the poor. In considering support for ‘civil society associations’, donor agencies need to be concerned with the political impact of that support and its effect on the quality of the state. The state remains the crucial site to guarantee associational space. In many parts of the developing world, state formation is still on the agenda and state collapse remains the greatest danger to the promotion of both pro-poor policy outcomes and the consolidation of more democratic forms of governance.
Given the condition of ‘stalled democratisation’, donors need to look much more carefully at the development of ‘political society’ and consider whether their programmes contribute to, or detract from, the establishment of the political parties needed to deepen democracy.
- Patterns of support for civil society associations may contribute to the development of programmatic political parties or may, either by ideology or the provision of mechanisms of exit, weaken the possibility of the emergence of effective parties.
- In designing governance and economic reforms, close attention needs to be paid to their political impact.
- The provision of public services through private means may lead to the deterioration of public goods or prevent future enhancement of public goods while simultaneously weakening the state and constricting the development of political society and democratic politics.
- Poverty reduction strategy processes, if conducted outside formal political institutions and organisations, may also undermine future democratic possibilities.
- Well-intentioned campaigns against corruption, especially with the advancement of the media’s role in politics, may contribute to the delegitimation of political organisations and the public realm.
Donors, acting inconsistently on the international stage, may undermine their own influence within developing country communities.
- It is important to work toward a situation where poor people find the realm of politics and political organisations that work within the state, or positively to transform the state, as legitimate.
- If not, support directed towards the ‘grass-roots’ will provide only ephemeral improvements.
- It will weaken the long-term possibilities for positive political organisation and long-term poverty reduction.
