EAZ

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EAZ PUBLIC DISCUSSIONDecember 4, 2008

• THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN DECENTRALISATION
• Presentation by
• Dr. Peter Kaumba Lolojih

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Democratic Decentralisation(Political
decentralisation or Devolution)

• The transfer of powers and resources to
  sub-national authorities which are (a) largely
  or wholly independent of the central government,
  and (b) democratically elected.

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Local communities and Decentralisation

• Involvement in the decision-making process
  local communities make their own decisions
  through their local leaders
• Problem solving local communities are
  encouraged to find solutions to everyday problems
  gtgtgt innovative ideas that are more in tune with
  local conditions
• Community Driven Development empowers local
  communities to exert influence over local
  governance/services

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Requisite community characteristics

• Capacity to demand and support democratic
  government
• Realisation that communities are principal
  players and a source of political legitimacy in
  local administration
• Capacity, and the interest to hold local
  officials accountable
• Willingness to take responsibility in the process
  of public service delivery

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AFROBAROMETER

• A comparative series of national attitude surveys
  on Democracy, Markets and Civil Society in Africa
• It is an independent, non-partisan research
  instrument that measures the social, political
  and economic atmosphere in Africa. Afrobarometer
  surveys are conducted in many African countries
  on a regular cycle. Because the instrument asks a
  standard set of questions, countries can be
  systematically compared and, ultimately, trends
  in public attitudes can be tracked over time.
• So far 1999 (12 countries) 2003 (16
  countries) 2005 (18 countries) 2008 (20
  countries) - on going
• National probability sample gtgtgt random selection
  methods PPPS
• Funded through grants National Science
  Foundation SIDA USAID World Bank ADB Royal
  Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs DFID
• Core Partners MSU (USA) CDD (Ghana) IDASA
  (South Africa)

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Zambians views on Democracy73 of Zambians
associated democracy with - civil
liberties/personal freedoms (33) - Government
by, for, of the people/popular rule
(9) - Voting/elections/multiparty competition
(21) - peace/unity/power sharing (4) -
Social/economic development (2) -
Equality/justice (1) - Majority rule (1) -
Governance/effectiveness/accountability/rule of
law (2) - Dont know/did not
understand the question (20)
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Support for Democracy
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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• Which of the following statements is closest to
  your view?
• Statement A We should choose our leaders in
  this country through
• regular open and honest elections.
• Statement B Since elections sometimes produce
  bad results, we
• Should adopt other methods for choosing this
  countrys leaders.

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Choosing leaders
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(No Transcript)
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SATISFACTION WITH DEMOCRACY
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In your opinion, how much of a democracy is
Zambia today?
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Overall, how satisfied are you with the way
democracy works in Zambia?
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In your opinion, how likely is it that Zambia
will remain a democratic country?
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POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
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• Here is a list of actions that people sometimes
  take as citizens. For each of these, please tell
  me whether you, personally, have done any of
  these things during the past year.
• Attended a community meeting?
• Joined with others to raise an issue?
• Attended a demonstration or a protest march?

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Political Participation
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Political Awareness of Incumbents
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Can you tell me the name of your Member of
Parliament?
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Can you tell me the name of your Local Government
Councillor?
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FORMAL CONTACTING
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During the past year, how often have you
contacted a Local Councillor about some important
problem or to give them your views?
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During the past year, how often have you
contacted a Member of Parliament about some
important problem or to give them your views?
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During the past year, how often have you
contacted an official of a Government Ministry
about some important problem or to give them your
views?
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INSTITUTIONAL TRUST
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How much do you trust each of the following, or
havent you heard enough about them to say your
elected Councillor?
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SELECTED VIEWS ON CORRUPTIONHow many of the
following people do you think are involved in
corruption, or havent you heard enough about
them to say?
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Elected Councillors?
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Local Government Officials?
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Putting it all together

• Sufficient demand for democracy
• Inadequate supply of democracy
• Insufficient interaction between communities and
  local officials
• Somewhat low levels of institutional trust
  (Councillors)
• Inadequate and unreliable local authority
  financing
• General dissatisfaction about local authority
  performance (communities)
• Some resistance to fulfil statutory obligations
  in a timely manner (communities)

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
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Some Ideas

• Enhance the appreciation of democratic
  decentralisation (political decentralisation, or
  devolution) in MDAs, and communities
• Statutory prescription for minimum levels of
  formal interaction between elected Councillors
  and their constituents (communities)
• Enhance the supply of democratic governance at
  the local authority level
• Ensure adequate appreciation of the principal
  role of communities in democratic
  decentralisation
• Assist communities to articulate their interests,
  carry out their mandates and responsibilities gtgt
  effectively participate as citizens in democratic
  processes
• Ensure sufficient resources to anchor the process
  of decentralisation

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For More Information on Afrobarometerincluding
downloadable versions of questionnaires, data
sets, results and publicationsseewww.afrobarom
eter.org
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You can also contactDr. Peter Kaumba Lolojih
at plolojih_at_yahoo.comTel 295150 (Office)
294030 (Home)Mobile [phone]
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THANK YOU