The concept of ‘social citizenship’ is much bandied about, but what does it mean? Is it utopian to think the poor can be meaningfully involved in shaping social policies? Is it time to go beyond treating those on the receiving end of social policies as passive recipients and assert instead their right to participation?

A report from the Institute of Development Studies reviews strategies to strengthen participation in social policy and social provisioning. Lamenting the lack of reference to the south in the literature on social policy, it explores the diverse forms participation has taken in social policy in developing countries. It rejects the functionalist concept of participation which sees beneficiaries as users / consumers of pre-determined public services. Instead it argues for a reconceptualisation of the nature of citizenship and partnership which takes into account the consequences of demographic change, privatisation of service delivery and globalisation.

Has the lack of a common understanding or definition of the term ‘participation’ legitimised dubious practices? The study suggests that those who lack power have been denied voice and that (non)participation has often served to reinforce exclusion. Consultation fatigue has arisen when organisations exploit ‘dialogue’ to legitimate their own ends. NGOs may not be the champions of democratic citizenship they claim to be: as service providers they tend to ‘projectise’ social policy and weaken state accountability to its citizens. NGOs need to be seen as one of a number of actors within civil society, rather than an actor for civil society.

Processes geared to simply asking people their views on social policy issues can serve to produce ‘echoes’ of dominant discourses, rather than alternative framings of policy issues. Evidence is presented that:

• The much-vaunted Bamako Initiative (to involve communities in managing and financing health facilities) actually takes a highly instrumentalist approach to participation and does not provide citizens with an opportunity to determine the kinds of services they want or need.
• Though World Bank Social Investment Funds sound admirably participatory, in several countries they have failed to overcome barriers to participation of the less vocal and powerful.

The report identifies entry points to move forward debate and evolution of understanding of social citizenship. Policymakers and researchers are urged to:

• Explore the scope for ‘person centred planning’, a concept recognising the individual as a self-provisioning actor accountable for responsible spending of public funds. Could this be the future for assisting those affected by HIV?
• Ensure that decentralisation of responsibility is accompanied by complementary decentralisation of resources.
• Recognise and appreciate the value of global forms of citizen action and social movements. Campaigns around child labour, baby milk and developing country debt have shown the way.
• Learn from examples of successful citizen-driven initiatives presented in the report (Bombay pavement dwellers, Kenyan communities determining their own health services, Peruvian community kitchens, older people’s projects in South Africa, participatory monitoring and evaluation in several countries).
• Recognise the dangers of biased northern conceptual models and take account of the actual configuration of state and non-state actors, and the capacity of the state to deliver welfare services.

Source(s):
‘From users and choosers to makers and shapers: repositioning participation in social policy’, Institute of Development Studies, Working Paper #127, by Andrea Cornwall and John Gaventa June 2001 Full document.

Funded by: DFID (IDS Social Policy Programme)

id21 Research Highlight: 16 May 2002

Further Information:
Andrea Cornwall / John Gaventa
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 606261
Fax: +44 (0)1273 621202
Contact the contributor: acornwall@ids.ac.uk

Contact the contributor: jgaventa@ids.ac.uk

Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK

Other related links:
More from the IDS Participation research team

'Power to the people: the key to good urban governance?'

'Consensual decision-making? The west African experience'

'City politics: a voice for the poor?' Insights #38

More from FAO Participation

See the UNDP Civil Societies Organisations and Participation Programme

CIVICUS is dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society