Do Participatory Governance Institutions Matter?: Municipal Councils and Social Housing Programs in Brazil

Abstract

Scholars often recommend the implementation of participatory governance institutions to promote pro-poor policy outcomes. Incorporating civil society organizations into decision making should lead to increasing government responsiveness and accountability in addressing key social problems. Few scholars, however, have systematically tested this proposition across contexts. An assessment of the impact of municipal housing councils on the adoption of social housing programs in Brazil indicates that housing councils are associated with an increase in social housing program adoption across municipalities, regardless of whether a strong civil society is in place. This suggests that the act of incorporation into decision making is more important than the strength of civil society for producing pro-poor policy outcomes.

Good Urban Governance and City Resilience: An Afrocentric Approach to Sustainable Development

“…When citizens participate in government's decision-making processes, it helps improve local conditions. According to Donaghy [82], Avritzer [83] and the World Bank [84] participatory processes that follow a decentralised government system tend to increase pro-poor investment, lower poverty levels and improve citizens' quality of life. Moreover, participation has an educational dimension, as it improves citizens' understanding of governance structures, contexts and challenges.…”

Why Civil Society Cannot Battle it All Alone: The Roles of Civil Society Environment, Transparent Laws and Quality of Public Administration in Political Corruption Mitigation

“…As an emerging body of literature, and which narrows the supposed divide between the optimists and skeptics, a possible third strand looks at the conditions under which civil society may affect control of corruption, including media, government transparency, political competition, and important legal, political and socioeconomic contexts partly shaped by national governments (see Donaghy, 2011;Marinova, 2011;Uhlin, 2009Uhlin, , 2010Widojoko, 2017). What is common among the last group of scholars above is the belief that civil society cannot constitute a single, independent force in the anticorruption movement and reform.…”

Implementación de mecanismos de participación ciudadana en los gobiernos locales en Chile: el caso del municipio de Santiago

“…Así, formas de acción colectiva no institucionalizadas como las juntas de vecinos de forma organizada u organizaciones de la sociedad civil, serían capaces de desarrollar reportorios directamente ligados a demandas por mayor participación en el nivel local. Las organizaciones sociales comprenderían la existencia de instituciones participativas como espacios de colaboración para diseñar, implementar y evaluar políticas públicas (Donaghy, 2013), las que van a afectar de forma concreta su vida diaria. La idea de la "amplificación de la voz de los ciudadanos" muchas veces se enarbola como una demanda central por parte de este tipo de organizaciones para con los gobiernos locales (Donaghy, 2013).…”