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

2. 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

3. 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

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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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 “Voices of the Misgoverned and Misruled: An Empirical Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and Corruption for Peru.”

16. 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 “Voices of the Misgoverned and Misruled: An Empirical Diagnostic Study on Governance, Rule of Law and Corruption for Peru.”

17. What Has to Change?
Community Groups
Local Government

18. Community Groups
Local Government