Index 3: PARTICIPATION
Governmental policies stimulate human development only if they bring the masses into the mainstream of society. That involves participation in decision-making at the regional and local levels. Legitimacy goes hand in hand with participation. The process of fiscal linkage, which has placed the financial and political relationships between the federal, state, and local levels of government in a state of transition, is bringing about the redefinition of taxing and expenditure responsibilities and the adoption of new tax systems without any previous administrative history.
Many local governments have been moving from a dependency on state and federal government receipts, to a system under which they directly raise a higher percentage of revenues in their budgets while assuming greater responsibility for developing their own spending programs. In line with new public management concepts, which have influenced a comprehensive process of change to public sector organizations across the board, the emphasis now is on decentralization, devolution and modernization of public sector delivery.
Participation has many dimensions. Increased participation can be achieved through legislation enacted to strengthen the freedom and pluralism of the media. It can be achieved through the institution of an independent electoral management body empowered to conduct free and fair elections. It can be achieved through the existence of institutionalized mechanisms for regular consultation between local governments and civil society organizations on economic and social policies and programs. It can be achieved through the legal aid and legal counsel systems accessed by the poor. It can be achieved through the frequency of local elections and referenda. It can be achieved through the use of e-government tools and community networks. It can be achieved through public input into decision-making on government plans and budgets. But many of these indicators are somewhat specific in focus.
In line with the objective of providing a broad indicator, and one that has a common thread with the other two, it is therefore suggested that the indicator for participation should be the proportion of total public revenues allocated and managed at the neighborhood level.
