Democracy at the Local Level in Africa
Decentralization and reform of local/municipal governance are elements of the African social, political and economic development agendas. Currently, Africa has the least developed structures of local governance and also the least prospects of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At least three reasons explain why decentralized governance and participatory local development are important in the African context. First, the delivery of crucial services associated with the achievement of the MDGs is not possible without effective local institutions. Deepening decentralized governance will enable countries to achieve the MDGs on the ground. Secondly, lessons from the country governance profiles (CGPs) and poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) processes suggest that decentralized governance is critical for initiating and sustaining participatory decision making and accountable management systems that permit communities to meet their own goals for development at the local level within the framework of nationally articulated economic and social programmes. Thirdly, decentralized governance helps to deepen the commitment of countries to democratic governance and increase the legitimacy of national governments, including those just emerging from conflict. In addition, the role of regional and local governments have become important as the basic training ground for the citizenry in democratic problem solving as well as developing local politicians for the national arena.
Local Democracy Assessment Methodology
As part of its thematic work on Democracy at the Local Level IDEA has developed a number of tools designed to assist practitioners and assistance providers in supporting democratic development at the local level.
In 2003 IDEA developed a specific democracy assessment methodology for the local level. The assessment seeks to provide practitioners and specialists with a tool to evaluate the extent and quality of local democracy in urban arenas. It consists mostly of a Questionnaire which focuses on two areas that are critical to democracy’s success in today’s complex urban environments:
- Representative democracy (elections, political parties, and elected officials); and
- Participatory democracy (civic engagement, non-governmental and community-based organizations, and consensus-oriented policy making).
Purpose of the Democracy Assessment is:
- to provide a practical resource tool to municipal officials, administrators, partners (such as non-government organizations), and civic leaders as they conduct self-evaluations of democratic life in their city;
- to identify the principal strengths and weaknesses of democratic life and to identify ways to further consolidate strengths and to rectify weaknesses;
- to investigate the contributions that local or city-level democracy makes toward overall consolidation of democracy in democratizing societies;
- to stimulate further thinking on the ways to define and describe the best ways to structure and practice local democracy; and
- to give outsiders such as peer reviewers a tool by which to conduct independent and impartial evaluations of democratic governance at the city level.
To view the Local Democracy Assessment Methodology Click Here.
Local Democracy Assessment Pilots
In 2004 the Local Democracy Assessment was piloted in four cities in East and Southern Africa; Gaborone (Botswana), Lusaka (Zambia), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). The results of the 4 assessments were debated at a Symposium in Gaborone Botswana in August 2004. The two key recommendations emerging from the pilot implementation were; that the Assessments should be conducted in a number of cities and municipalities in each country to allow for a broader evaluation of the state of local democracy in the broader national context and that the results of the assessment process should be presented to national level as a departure point for the development of reform oriented policies. Both these recommendations have been incorporated into the below project.
The 4 assessments were printed in a report “Democracy at the Local Level in East and Southern Africa: Profiles in Governance”
Africa Regional Symposium on Democracy at the Local Level
In August 2004 a symposium was convened in Gaborone, Botswana, together with project partners the African Union of Local Authorities (AULA), and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA). The purpose of the meeting was to bring together the key actors in local democracy to present the findings of the 4 city local-democracy assessments, to discuss the recommendations for improving democracy articulated by the local authorities, and to highlight the recently developed capacity-building curriculum designed in the project. There were 36 participants at the meeting and included representatives of the assessment teams, local democracy specialists and non-governmental organizations, those from international development assistance organizations, and representatives of regional and international organizations. For more information click here.
For more information about IDEA’s work on Democracy at the Local Level Click here
