Participation and Citizenship by Andrea Cornwall
Journal of Political Power, 2013
Brazilian democratic innovation is gathering considerable international attention, spawning a gro... more Brazilian democratic innovation is gathering considerable international attention, spawning a growing interest in replicating the institutional designs of its participatory governance institutions in countries with very different political histories and cultures of governance. Drawing on ethnographic research in the north and north-east of the country, sites to which innovations developed in the south of Brazil have been institutionalized in very different political and cultural landscapes, this article examines the micro-politics of citizen engagement in two participatory governance spaces. Understanding the contributions that Brazilian experience can make to democratic theory and practice, we suggest, requires a more nuanced examination of how democratic spaces and cultures of politics are mutually constructed in practice, and how different forms of power shape this process.
Narratives of civil society participation often paint an overly rosy picture of engaged citizens ... more Narratives of civil society participation often paint an overly rosy picture of engaged citizens enlivening democratic deliberation and democratizing decision-making. In this chapter, I draw on ethnographic research in a “new democratic space” in north-eastern Brazil to explore the politics of institutionalized civil society participation in health governance. Told in three instalments, this chapter traces the biography of a participatory health council through different periods of membership, leadership and local government administrations. In doing so, I juxtapose the normative assumptions of narratives of civil society with the politics and dynamics of participation in this particular political, cultural and social context.
Community Development Journal, 2008
The world over, public institutions appear to be responding to the calls voiced by activists, dev... more The world over, public institutions appear to be responding to the calls voiced by activists, development practitioners and progressive thinkers for greater public involvement in making the decisions that matter and holding governments to account for following through on their commitments. Yet what exactly 'participation' means to these different actors can vary enormously. This article explores some of the meanings and practices associated with participation, in theory and in practice. It suggests that it is vital to pay closer attention to who is participating, in what and for whose benefit. Vagueness about what participation means may have helped the promise of public involvement gain purchase, but it may be time for more of what Cohen and Uphoff term 'clarity through specificity' if the call for more participation is to realize its democratizing promise.
Whose voices? Whose choices? Reflections on gender and participatory development
World Development, Jan 1, 2003
Third world quarterly, Jan 1, 2005
In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solut... more In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solutions. Today's development orthodoxies are captured in a seductive mix of such words, among which 'participation', 'empowerment' and 'poverty reduction' take a prominent place. This paper takes a critical look at how these three terms have come to be used in international development policy, exploring how different configurations of words frame and justify particular kinds of development interventions. It analyses their use in the context of two contemporary development policy instruments, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We show how words that once spoke of politics and power have come to be reconfigured in the service of today's onesize-fits-all development recipes, spun into an apoliticised form that everyone can agree with. As such, we contend, their use in development policy may offer little hope of the world free of poverty that they are used to evoke.
O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) é um sistema universal, de financiamento público, baseado em direi... more O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) é um sistema universal, de financiamento público, baseado em direitos sociais à saúde, concebido e implantado em uma era em que as reformas neoliberais em outras partes do mundo têm impulsionado a mercantilização dos serviços de saúde, oferece lições importantes para os futuros sistemas de saúde. Neste artigo, focalizamos os mecanismos institucionais inovadores para a participação popular e prestação de contas (accountability) que fazem parte da arquitetura de governança do SUS. Nós argumentamos que esses mecanismos de participação pública têm o potencial de sustentar um pacto entre Estado e os cidadãos e assegurar o impulso político necessário para ampliar o acesso aos serviços básicos de saúde e, ao mesmo tempo, fornecer um quadro para o surgimento de "parcerias reguladoras", capazes de administrar a realidade complexa da assistência plural e de multiplicar as fontes de especialidades em saúde de uma forma que assegure que as necessidades e os direitos dos pobres e dos cidadãos marginalizados não sejam relegados para a periferia de um sistema de saúde segmentado.
iDS Bulletin, Jan 1, 2004
Development in Practice, 2007
IDS Bulletin, Jan 1, 2000
This article explores approaches to participation in social policy, setting them within broader d... more This article explores approaches to participation in social policy, setting them within broader debates on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Drawing on studies of participation in a range of social policy arenas in the north and south, it explores the implications of a shift from a focus on clients or consumers of social policies as users and choosers to a more active engagement of citizens as agents in the making and shaping of the social policies that affect their lives.
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Gender and Participatory Development
Shifting burdens: Gender and agrarian change …, Jan 1, 2002
Spaces for transformation? Reflections on issues of power and difference in participation in development
Participation: from tyranny to transformation, Jan 1, 2004
IDS Bulletin, Jan 1, 2000
IDS bulletin, Jan 1, 2002
Conventional perspectives on social and political participation, point out, circumscribe the poss... more Conventional perspectives on social and political participation, point out, circumscribe the possibilities for public engagement within a frame determined by external agencies: as beneficiaries of the patronage of development projects or as sporadic -and increasingly apathetic -users of the ballot box. Shifting the frame to 'citizenship participation',
Third World Quarterly, 2005
In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solut... more In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solutions. Today's development orthodoxies are captured in a seductive mix of such words, among which 'participation', 'empowerment' and 'poverty reduction' take a prominent place. This paper takes a critical look at how these three terms have come to be used in international development policy, exploring how different configurations of words frame and justify particular kinds of development interventions. It analyses their use in the context of two contemporary development policy instruments, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We show how words that once spoke of politics and power have come to be reconfigured in the service of today's onesize-fits-all development recipes, spun into an apoliticised form that everyone can agree with. As such, we contend, their use in development policy may offer little hope of the world free of poverty that they are used to evoke.
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Participation and Citizenship by Andrea Cornwall