Empowerment and Decentralization: The Demand Side Deepa Narayan, Senior Advisor PREM,World Bank March 26, 2003

Decentralization through an Empowerment Lens How can Empowered Local Governments Empower Poor People? Efforts to date focused primarily on supply side Empowerment approach focuses on demand side Empower local communities through mechanisms that increase the four elements of empowerment Focus on relationship between citizens and local governments

What is Empowerment? Empowerment is expansion of the assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable the institutions that affect their lives. Capability Institutions - social, economic, state and global Participation and negotiation, voice and representation Accountability It is about change, in capacity of people, and the enabling environment

Empowerment Framework Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations

Empowerment Framework Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES INDIVIDUAL Material Human Social Political

Empowerment Framework Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES INDIVIDUAL Material Human Social Political COLLECTIVE Voice Organization Representation

Empowerment Framework Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT Information Inclusion/ Participation Accountability Local Organizational Capacity ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES Rules, Incentives, Resources INDIVIDUAL Material Human Social Political Norms, Behaviors, Processes COLLECTIVE Voice Organization Representation

Empowerment Framework Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT Information Inclusion/ Participation Accountability Local Organizational Capacity ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES Rules, Incentives, Resources INDIVIDUAL Material Human Social Political Norms, Behaviors, Processes COLLECTIVE Voice Organization Representation Nature of Social & Political Structures

Empowerment Framework Improved governance and access to justice Functioning and more inclusive basic services More equitable access to markets and business services Strengthened civil society Strengthened poor people’s organizations Increased assets and freedom of choice Reform of State Institutions Local and National Investment in Poor People And Their Organizations Development Outcomes SUPPORT FOR EMPOWERMENT Information Inclusion/ Participation Accountability Local Organizational Capacity ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES Rules, Incentives, Resources INDIVIDUAL Material Human Social Political Norms, Behaviors, Processes COLLECTIVE Voice Organization Representation Nature of Social & Political Structures

No Single Institutional Model Principles/Elements of Empowerment Rights, Resources, and Support to: Information Inclusion/Participation Accountability Local Organizational Capacity

Four Elements of Empowerment Information Uganda’s Decentralization: Elite capture Citizens rely on the media for information about national politics (64%), but on community leaders for local information (70%) Use of media impacts corruption perception at the local level Media access has positive effect on quality of service delivery Inclusion/Participation Project Performance in Indonesia Study of 48 villages 38 % of all community development activities initiated by communities without any government involvement Outperformed government activities on every outcome measure

Four Elements of Empowerment Accountability Corruption in Peru Rated most important problem by 85% of public service users Local governments perform worse than national agencies Majority of users do not know how to report corruption Local Organizational Capacity C’Ote D’Ivoire, Water User’s Groups Responsibility shifted from government to water user groups Breakdown rates were reduced from 50% to 11% Results sustained only where well-functioning community organizations existed

Decentralization through an Empowerment Lens Bolivia’s Experience Law on Popular Participation, 1994 Empowered communities to oversee actions of municipal governments Administrative Decentralization Law, 1995 Redefined roles of administrative departments Survey of public officials in Bolivia Municipalities with greater transparency and citizen involvement have greater poverty reduction, less bribery and job purchase Only where poor people’s organizations were already strong could they take advantage of the new laws and openness Where local organizations are weak, vested interests of political parties dominate

Voice, Corruption, and Service Delivery in Bolivia Source: World Bank. 2001. Voice of the Poor and Taming of the Shrew: Evidence from the Bolivia Public Officials’ Survey.

Transparency and Corruption in Peru Composite index based on the percent of respondents reporting that decisions about personnel management, bidding procedures and resource allocation in their own agency are transparent Source: World Bank Institute. 2001. “Voices of the Misgoverned and Misruled: An Empirical Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and Corruption for Peru.”

Voice, Accountability, and Corruption in Peru Composite index describing the existence of a system of external audit, consumer feedback, complaint mechanisms for the agency regarding personnel and budgetary decisions Source: World Bank Institute. 2001. “Voices of the Misgoverned and Misruled: An Empirical Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and Corruption for Peru.”

What Has to Change? Community Groups Local Government

Community Groups Local Government