Local Governance : New Spaces for Citizens Participation

Contents:  Preface. 1. New spaces for citizens participation. 2. Theorizing local Democracy and participation. 3. Participatory Governance at the local level. 4. Civil society relations and participation. 5. New spaces for local Government participation. 6. Participation: unfinished theory and praxis. Bibliography. Index.

Participation is framed within the theoretical perspectives of representative democracy and its off-shoot, deliberative democracy. The book develops three conceptual frameworks: (1) the main theories of democracy and participation contemplating the local sphere of government. (2) The policy framework staging the interactions between the key participants, namely, local government and civil society formations and the institutional spaces, values and attitudes involved therein.

The book presents three conditions for wider and deeper citizens participation: (1) that participation praxis is not necessarily dependent on representative democracy, (2) That policy coherence is necessary for effective participation in local governance, and (3) new participative spaces for citizens is possible in the form of space, dialogue and deliberation, rights, development, decentralization and accountability.

New spaces for participation could also be viewed from the perspective of advancing political society. This means international agreements and the combined import of administrative justice vis-à-vis administrative law and judicial review. (jacket)