1 / 12

From Political Won’t to Political Will: Building Support for Participatory Governance

From Political Won’t to Political Will: Building Support for Participatory Governance. A presentation by Carmen Malena, CIVICUS at U NDP, New York, 13 April 2010. Why a book on building political will for participatory governance?.

galen
Download Presentation

From Political Won’t to Political Will: Building Support for Participatory Governance

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. From Political Won’t to Political Will:Building Support for Participatory Governance A presentation by Carmen Malena, CIVICUS at UNDP, New York, 13 April 2010

  2. Why a book on building political will for participatory governance? • Growing consensus that governance is key and that good governance is participatory governance (PG). • Lack of political will is identified as a key obstacle (and remains largely unanalyzed and unaddressed). • Paying attention to issues of political will has critical operational implications.

  3. The book analyzes a rich and diverse range of successful PG practices

  4. Understanding political will • Political will can be defined simply as a credible intent to act. • Political will found to be critical to achieving real and sustainable impact. • Little guidance available on how to understand and address lack of political will.

  5. Understanding Political WillThe book finds that political will…. • Depends on the three key elements of: • Political want • Political can • Political must • Is influenced by a range of factors at: • Individual level • Institutional level • Relational level • Societal level

  6. A framework for analyzing political will

  7. Some key reasons for “political won’t”

  8. Key strategies for building “political will” • Political Want • Nurture constructive state-CSO relationships & mutual respect • Build on political self-interests • Political Must • Empower and mobilize citizens (pressure from below) • Influence top leadership (pressure from above) • Political Can • Capacity development (for all concerned stakeholders)

  9. KEY MESSAGES To build political will, we must… • Adopt approaches that simultaneously address political want, can and must • Many current initiatives focus on only one of these elements • Important to create both incentives and sanctions, focus on establishing positive working relations but applying public pressure as necessary • Particular need to strengthen political want • Requires “balanced” approaches, creative coalitions and strategic thinking

  10. KEY MESSAGES To build political will, we must… • 2. Focus on citizen/CS-state interface • Where are the spaces for productive interaction? • How are they created and managed? • Who participates? Who controls? • What are the terms of engagement? • Support is needed to enhance the quantity and quality of these interactions.

  11. KEY MESSAGES To build political will, we must… • Build consensus (and skills) for the legitimate “political” role of civil society • Essential to establish a middle ground of “critical collaboration” between gov’t & CSOs • Requires professionalism and a shift from opposing to proposing on the part of CSOs • Evidence-based and grassroots-supported approaches are key

  12. Political will does not just happen, we collectively make it happen….UNDP is uniquely well-placed to help governments of the world make the transition from “political won’t” to “political will”. So, over to you! THANK YOU

More Related