BOOK
Mobilizing for Democracy
Vera Schatten Coelho | Bettina von Liers | Lisa Thompson | Naila Kabeer | Arilson Favareto | Doctor Celestine Nyamu-Musembi | Duncan Okello | Idaci Ferreira | Jibrin Ibrahim | Alex Shankland | Alexandre Ferraz | Fabiola Fanti | Meire Ribeiro | Ranjita Mohanty | Samuel Egwu | Simeen Mahmud | Steven Robins | Sandra Marina Roque | Frederico Menino
(2010)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Mobilizing for Democracy is an in-depth study into how ordinary citizens and their organizations mobilize to deepen democracy. Featuring a collection of new empirical case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, this important new book illustrates how forms of political mobilization, such as protests, social participation, activism, litigation and lobbying, engage with the formal institutions of representative democracy in ways that are core to the development of democratic politics.
No other volume has brought together examples from such a broad Southern spectrum and covering such a diversity of actors: rural and urban dwellers, transnational activists, religious groups, politicians and social leaders. The cases illuminate the crucial contribution that citizen mobilization makes to democratization and the building of state institutions, and reflect the uneasy relationship between citizens and the institutions that are designed to foster their political participation.
Vera Schattan Coelho is a research fellow at Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP, the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning), where she coordinates the Citizenship and Development Group. A Brazilian political scientist, she has written widely on issues of participation and social policy in Latin America. She serves as co-convenor of the Deepening Democracy working group of the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability.
Bettina von Lieres is a Senior Lecturer in the Political Studies Department at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, and also teaches at the University of Toronto. A South African political scientist, she has written widely on issues of democracy, citizenship and marginalisation. She serves as co-convenor of the Deepening Democracy subgroup of the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability.
'A welcome and timely engagement of cases of participatory democracy from Africa, India, and Latin America that have not, on average, been subject to the levels of intensive study common in the wealthy democracies.'
Mark E. Warren, University of British Columbia
'Mobilizing for Democracy makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of how citizen mobilization can deepen democracy. The book is original because of the sophistication with which it disaggregates the complexities of citizen mobilization, recognizing both the extraordinary variety of contextual dynamics that condition mobilization and the range of outcomes.'
Patrick Heller, Brown University
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| About the editors | ii | ||
| List of tables and figures | vii | ||
| Tables | vii | ||
| 1.1 Selected countries classified by type of political institutions | 6 | ||
| 2.1 Regularity of group meetings | 28 | ||
| 2.2 Main source of group funding | 29 | ||
| 2.3 Participation in community public life | 33 | ||
| 2.4 Service on public committees | 36 | ||
| 2.5 Awareness and use of institutionalized spaces for representation of interests | 39 | ||
| 2.6 Engagement with government | 42 | ||
| 3.1 Differences in organizational approaches | 54 | ||
| 3.2 Socio-economic profile of respondents | 55 | ||
| 3.3 Individual skills and capabilities | 57 | ||
| 3.4 Participation in community life and decision-making | 58 | ||
| 3.5 Indicators of political awareness and participation, by organization and by type of membership | 62 | ||
| 3.6 Attitudes to social justice | 64 | ||
| 3.7 Knowledge of rights and citizenship | 66 | ||
| 3.8 Perception of change by organization and type of membership | 68 | ||
| 4.1 Summary of the associations | 78 | ||
| 9.1 Indicators of inclusion in local health councils | 186 | ||
| 9.2 Indicators of connections between local health councils and other spaces and institutions | 188 | ||
| 9.3 Indicators of participation in local health councils | 190 | ||
| 9.4 Content of local health council debates | 194 | ||
| Figures | vii | ||
| 1.1 Democratic outcomes by form of mobilization | 16 | ||
| 9.1 Municipality of São Paulo, showing the selected submunicipalities and their Human Development Index scores | 180 | ||
| 9.2 Types of inclusion in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 185 | ||
| 9.3 Connections by six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 189 | ||
| 9.4 Features of participation in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 191 | ||
| 9.5 Types of theme debated in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 193 | ||
| 11.1 Perceptions of the City of Cape Town’s performancein service delivery | 232 | ||
| 11.2 Recognition of elected representatives | 233 | ||
| 11.3 Perception of receptiveness of elected representatives | 234 | ||
| 11.4 Membership of associational groups | 234 | ||
| 11.5 Participation in meetings by house and shack dwellers | 237 | ||
| 11.6 Participation in protests by house and shack dwellers | 238 | ||
| 12.1 Interactional structure and styles of activism | 247 | ||
| 12.2 Schematic representation of the variables from which the system of hypotheses is composed | 251 | ||
| 12.3 Representation of the trajectories of the leaders | 253 | ||
| 12.4 Representation of the networks | 256 | ||
| 12.5 Representation of the state forms of conflict regulation | 258 | ||
| 12.6 Triangle-synthesis | 259 | ||
| 12.7 Styles of activism transformed by the interactional structure | 260 | ||
| Acknowledgements | ix | ||
| Acronyms | x | ||
| Foreword by John Gaventa | xiii | ||
| Part One | Associational mobilization: constructing citizenship | 21 | ||
| 2 | Have civil society organizations’ political empowerment programmes contributed to a deepening of democracy in Kenya? | 23 | ||
| Introduction | 23 | ||
| Framing research questions on ‘deepening democracy’: how do we know what we are looking for? | 24 | ||
| Methodology: sample design, sampling procedures and site selection | 25 | ||
| Civil society’s contribution to democratization in Kenya: exploring the debate | 26 | ||
| Findings | 27 | ||
| Have CSO-initiated political empowerment programmes enriched associational life at the grassroots level? | 27 | ||
| Table 2.1 Regularity of group meetings | 28 | ||
| Table 2.2 Main source of group funding | 29 | ||
| Table 2.3 Participation in community public life | 33 | ||
| Table 2.4 Service on public committees | 36 | ||
| Have CSO initiatives played a role in checking abuse of power at the local level? | 36 | ||
| Has CSO intervention improved the quality and equality of representation of interests in local governance? | 37 | ||
| Table 2.5 Awareness and use of institutionalized spaces for representation of interests | 39 | ||
| Have CSOs played a role in facilitating public deliberation and creating opportunities for direct participation in governance? | 40 | ||
| Table 2.6 Engagement with government | 42 | ||
| Conclusion | 43 | ||
| Notes | 45 | ||
| 3 | Microfinance and social mobilization: alternative pathways to grassroots democracy? | 48 | ||
| Civil society and democracy: theoretical perspectives | 48 | ||
| The NGO sector in Bangladesh | 50 | ||
| Survey methodology and description of sample | 52 | ||
| Table 3.1 Differences in organizational approaches | 54 | ||
| Table 3.2 Socio-economic profile of respondents | 55 | ||
| Table 3.3 Individual skills and capabilities | 57 | ||
| Table 3.4 Participation in community life and decision-making | 58 | ||
| Table 3.5 Indicators of political awareness and participation, by organization and by type of membership | 62 | ||
| Table 3.6 Attitudes to social justice | 64 | ||
| Table 3.7 Knowledge of rights and citizenship | 66 | ||
| Table 3.8 Perception of change by organization and type of membership | 68 | ||
| Interpreting the findings | 69 | ||
| Notes | 71 | ||
| 4 | Building democracy and citizenship at the local level: the Núcleo Representativo das Associações do Dombe Grande | 72 | ||
| Introduction | 72 | ||
| Civic associations in the democratization processes | 73 | ||
| Angola’s democratization process | 75 | ||
| NRA: characteristics and trajectory | 77 | ||
| Table 4.1 Summary of the associations | 78 | ||
| The NRA’s relationship with the local administration | 87 | ||
| Concluding remarks | 92 | ||
| Notes | 94 | ||
| Part Two | Social movements: contesting political authority and building state responsiveness | 97 | ||
| 5 | The Indigenous Peoples’ Movement, ‘forest citizenship’ and struggles over health services in Acre, Brazil | 99 | ||
| Introduction | 99 | ||
| Indigenous peoples, the state and ‘forest citizenship’ in Acre | 101 | ||
| UNI, FUNASA and the outsourcing of indigenous health services | 106 | ||
| Crisis and rebirth in the Acre Movimento Indígena | 107 | ||
| Indigenous engagements with the state over health services since the collapse of the UNI | 110 | ||
| Outcomes, tensions and trade-offs | 113 | ||
| Notes | 118 | ||
| 6 | Citizen action and the consolidation of democracyin Nigeria: a study of the 2007 movement | 120 | ||
| Introduction | 120 | ||
| Nigeria’s political economy and the political context | 121 | ||
| A note on methodology | 124 | ||
| The emergence of the tenure extension campaign | 124 | ||
| Origins of the 2007 Movement | 125 | ||
| The continuation of the tenure extension campaign | 127 | ||
| The 2007 Movement and citizen mobilization: alliances and coalitions | 129 | ||
| What democratic outcomes? | 133 | ||
| Defeat of the ‘third-term’ amendment and aftermath | 135 | ||
| Concluding remarks | 138 | ||
| Notes | 141 | ||
| 7 | How deep is ‘deep democracy’? Grassroots globalization from Mumbai to Cape Town | 143 | ||
| Introduction: the limits of liberal democracy | 143 | ||
| A brief sketch of the post-apartheid political and economic landscape | 145 | ||
| ‘Deep democracy’ at the tip of Africa? | 146 | ||
| Deep democracy from Calcutta to Cape Town | 149 | ||
| ‘Mind the gap’: the case of the Victoria Mxenge Housing Federation | 150 | ||
| Conclusion | 154 | ||
| Notes | 156 | ||
| Part Three | Citizen involvement in formal governance mechanisms | 157 | ||
| 8 | The infinite agenda of social justice: dalit mobilization in Indian institutions of local governance | 159 | ||
| Introduction | 159 | ||
| Locating the study | 161 | ||
| Participatory local governance institutions and social justice | 162 | ||
| Dalit mobilization in panchayat institutions in Sabarkantha | 166 | ||
| Paradoxes of development and democracy | 170 | ||
| Final reflections | 173 | ||
| Notes | 174 | ||
| 9 | Mobilization and participation: a win-win game? | 176 | ||
| The deepening democracy debate | 177 | ||
| Research methodology and process | 180 | ||
| Figure 9.1 Municipality of São Paulo, showing the selected submunicipalities and their Human Development Index scores | 180 | ||
| Introducing the six sub-prefeituras: trajectories and profile | 182 | ||
| Figure 9.2 Types of inclusion in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 185 | ||
| Table 9.1 Indicators of inclusion in local health councils | 186 | ||
| Table 9.2 Indicators of connections between local health councils and other spaces and institutions | 188 | ||
| Figure 9.3 Connections by six CLSs located in areas with different historiesof mobilization | 189 | ||
| Figure 9.3 Connections by six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 189 | ||
| Table 9.3 Indicators of participation in local health councils | 190 | ||
| Figure 9.4 Features of participation in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 191 | ||
| Figure 9.5 Types of theme debated in six CLSs located in areas with different histories of mobilization | 193 | ||
| Table 9.4 Content of local health council debates | 194 | ||
| Discussing the assumptions | 195 | ||
| Final remarks | 196 | ||
| Notes | 197 | ||
| 10 | The dynamics of political change and transition: civil society, governance and the culture of politics in Kenya | 199 | ||
| Introduction | 199 | ||
| Civil society: between agency and structure | 201 | ||
| Codifying the reform agenda: issues for civil society intervention | 201 | ||
| Grappling with the reform agenda: an analysis of civil society’s effect on governance and politics | 202 | ||
| Civil society in government: a steep learning curve for agency | 212 | ||
| Conclusions | 215 | ||
| Notes | 218 | ||
| Part Four | Where and how to participate? | 221 | ||
| 11 | Passivity or protest? Understanding the dimensions of mobilization on rights to services in Khayelitsha, Cape Town | 223 | ||
| Introduction | 223 | ||
| Understanding mobilization strategies in Khayelitsha: analytical considerations | 224 | ||
| Exploring participation in Khayelitsha: context and methodology | 227 | ||
| Main findings of the study | 231 | ||
| Figure 11.1 Perceptions of the City of Cape Town’s performance in service delivery | 232 | ||
| Figure 11.2 Recognition of elected representatives | 233 | ||
| Figure 11.3 Perception of receptiveness of elected representatives | 234 | ||
| Figure 11.4 Membership of associational groups | 234 | ||
| Figure 11.5 Participation in meetings by house and shack dwellers | 237 | ||
| Figure 11.6 Participation in protests by house and shack dwellers | 238 | ||
| Conclusions | 240 | ||
| Notes | 242 | ||
| 12 | How styles of activism influence social participation and democratic deliberation | 243 | ||
| Introduction: Why study styles of activism and participation? | 243 | ||
| What determines styles of activism and their effects? | 246 | ||
| Figure 12.1 Interactional structure and styles of activism | 247 | ||
| Figure 12.2 Schematic representation of the variables from which the system of hypotheses is composed | 251 | ||
| Explaining styles of activism: common origins, different trajectories | 252 | ||
| 1 The trajectory of the leaders – evidence on the first hypothesis | 252 | ||
| Figure 12.3 Representation of the trajectories of the leaders | 253 | ||
| 2 The networks: evidence for the second hypothesis | 255 | ||
| Figure 12.4 Representation of the networks | 256 | ||
| 3 The state and conflict: evidence for the third hypothesis | 257 | ||
| Figure 12.5 Representation of the state forms of conflict regulation | 258 | ||
| Figure 12.6 Triangle-synthesis | 259 | ||
| Taking stock of the evidence: one original conflict, three styles of activism | 260 | ||
| Figure 12.7 Styles of activism transformed by the interactional structure | 260 | ||
| Conclusions | 262 | ||
| Notes | 263 | ||
| About the contributors | 264 | ||
| Bibliography | 268 | ||
| Index | 280 |