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id21 Focus, July 2007Claiming citizenship
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This issue of id21 focus was produced by id21 in collaboration with the Citizenship, Participation and Accountability Development Research Centre.
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Many citizens are disillusioned with government and democracy. Corruption, state failures to respond to poor people's needs and a lack of connection between citizens and elected representatives and bureaucrats are major concerns. At the same time, citizens are challenging corporations and global institutions to be more responsible.
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Women who
live in the urban slums of Veracruz in Mexico, blocking a highway in protest
against lack of basic services such as water and electricity. Direct collective
action is one strategy that citizens use to get access to their rights
and increase accountability. Citizenship DRC, 2004
What does citizenship mean to poor and socially excluded people? How do their views help us understand and analyse what 'inclusive' citizenship means?
Governance reforms in some countries have encouraged government officials to meet with citizens in formal meeting places to help make decisions at local and national levels. Citizens are increasingly able to participate in meetings, exchange information and negotiate agendas with state officials on issues concerning them.
Brazil's system of health councils and conferences offers inspiring lessons. Thousands of Brazilian citizens, representing churches, women's associations, unions and community groups, meet every month with people who provide health care.
Accountability is fundamentally a relationship of power. When accountability mechanisms work, citizens are able to make demands on powerful institutions and ensure that those demands are met. Accountability is therefore about democracy, rights and citizenship.
The garment industry in Bangladesh is a combination of the export and domestic sectors. Accountability in the export sector is associated with universal codes of conduct driven by companies' concerns about reputation. The domestic sector contains more genuine seeds of a democratic culture of accountability.
Science and technology development have major implications for tackling poverty and promoting well-being in developing countries. Recent controversies, such as genetically modified food crops and AIDS drugs, have created new dimensions and needs for public involvement in decision-making.
The complex HIV and AIDS situation in South Africa has provoked an extraordinary response from citizens and civil society.
id21 focus is an occasional publication and is online at www.id21.org/focus. Please feel free to copy and distribute them to your colleagues. We encourage you to quote freely from any article, providing the source (id21 focus) and author are acknowledged. id21's website, www.id21.org, offers free access to over 4,000 research highlights on development policy issues. To receive email updates, email id21news@ids.ac.uk with the words 'subscribe id21news'.
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Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Copyright remains with the original authors but (unless stated otherwise) any article may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided both source (id21, insights) and authors are properly acknowledged and informed. Copyright © 2006 id21. All rights reserved.
