Introductory Remarks by the Chair, Dr. George Matthew

Rubens Barbery Knaudt (Director, Center for Sustainable Development and Participation, Bolivia)

The drafting of the Popular Participation Law (PPL) in 1994 accelerated the decentralization reform of Bolivia. The law gave power to local governments and allowed civil societies greater access to the political process. The Decentralization Law in 1995 complemented the Popular Participation Law and enabled decentralization at the municipal level.

The PPL had far-reaching economic, political and social impacts. Economically, the PPL mandated the allocation of greater economic resources to local governments. Twenty percent of the national revenue was distributed to local governments, which had a direct impact on the increase in the number of local governments (from 13 to 316). The increase represented the biggest percentage of change in all Latin America. The PPL also dictates that resources are more evenly distributed. Before the law was passed, 90.9 percent was allocated to the national government, with only 9.1 percent allocated to the rest. After the reform, the national government underwent a 30 percent reduction in the budget, which was evenly reallocated among the remaining two political departments, the intermediary body and the local governments. At the same time, the law allowed for a greater balance in the responsibility of the central government, the intermediaries and municipalities. The intermediaries and the municipalities undertook 75 percent of the political responsibility, and the central government was left with only 25 percent, a significant decrease from the 75 percent before the law was enacted. Politically, the PPL created greater autonomy for the local governments in politics, economics and administrative affairs. The social impacts of the PPL include greater inclusion of Indian groups in politics, and greater attribution of power to the local governments in undertaking investment decisions for local development projects. This enabled the local governments to undertake more efficient administration of the territories.

The PPL and the subsequent reforms induced radical systemic changes in decentralization.

The National System of Public Investment mandated the coordination of the planning process in the three levels of government, and legally guaranteed the participation of the municipalities in the political process. The National System Operation Program requires the coordination of the three levels of government in deciding the allocation of the resources. In addition, the National system of Budget, directs the three levels of government to decide on the budget, and requires the approval of the budget and planning by civil societies such as the Vigilance Committee, which has the power to veto the proposal.

Discussions

Q: Is the PPL a change in the constitution, or just a law?

A: The capacity of the local government is dictated in the constitution. The law gave the power to enact this right to the local government.

Q: What kind of mechanisms did Bolivia implement to develop capacity-building in the newly-appointed local government officials?

A: One of the main worries was the lack of local capacities of the newly-appointed local government officials who had never worked in such positions. Although there are still a lot of problems regarding this matter, we think it is better to learn by doing rather than closing off the possibility of expanding the power of the local government. The intermediate groups can help the local government in capacity-building and an institution at the national level is helping the local government in that matter.

Nouzha Skalli (Municipal Council Member, Morocco)

Three factors were conducive to the progress and the constitutional reforms in human rights and development of democracy in Morocco. The first is the succession to the throne of a young King who was sensible to the issues of human rights and women’s rights. The introduction of a new government in 1998 and the free and transparent elections in 2002 were the two other factors.

Women’s rights must be ensured for the development of society, although progress in women’s rights has been impeded by the lack of education and juridical rights. Women and children under 15 years represent 67.5% of the population, thus emphasizing the relationship that exists between women’s rights and development of society.

Therefore, it is imperative that Morocco establishes a strategy advocating the political rights of women. First, we must establish a general objective of good local governance. Second, we need to establish the conditions of success to build a true democracy. Based on these, we must train and strengthen the capacity of women, reflect about the way we can overcome this problem, and advocate women’s participation.

Two organizations, the ADFM (Democratic Association of Moroccan Women) and CLEF (Center for Women Leadership), drafted a memorandum which was endorsed by 20 civil societies. The movement was induced by the necessity to address the shortage of women candidates for important political offices. The memorandum called for a quota to allow women to accede to institutions of power. The successful campaign resulted in a new electoral system at parliament, which allowed many more women to participate in politics (the participation rate went up to 11 percent from 0.34 percent).

Discussion

Q: Does the presence of more women in influence politics in any way?

A: Yes. International studies show that we need to have more than 30 percent of women in politics so that their opinion has more weight. Women’s participation provides a better opportunity in improving women’s position.

Subjects of Discussion

• The success of the Popular Participation Law (1994) and the Decentralization Law (1995) in accelerating the decentralization reform of Bolivia.
• The success and limitations in the Philippines’ efforts to expand local governments and local democracy.
• The importance of constitutional protection regarding the autonomy of local authorities and that of proper supervision by the central government.
• The importance of capacity-building for local government officials.
• Structural changes related to local governments under the 73^rd amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1992.
• The progress of constitutional reforms in human rights and the development of democracy in Morocco.

Recommendations

• Local governments and local democracy facilitate poverty alleviation.
• Local governments encourage greater participation in the electoral process.
• Local governments encourage and facilitate women’s participation.
• Local governments and local democracy encourage and facilitate the participation of excluded communities.
• Local governments and local democracy have been powerful engines for opening up and democratizing the country’s political system from military and authoritarian regimes. [Cases of Germany, Nigeria and Brazil]

2. Therefore considerable importance must be given to strengthen local governments and local democracy throughout the world.

• Local governments must have the powers to govern or deal with issues of significance to its residents.
• Local governments must have adequate financial resources. They must have sufficient functionaries, functions and funds at their command to provide the necessary services to the community.
• Local government bodies must be viable in order to exercise their powers.
• Therefore, the local governments and the democratic process must be well enshrined in the constitution of the respective countries.

3. Sufficient resources and funds should be provided for training elected officials, especially women and representatives from marginalized groups.

4. In order to strengthen and deepen democracies in all countries, we are of the view that no effort should be spared to create a “community of local democracies.” This should be done at the earliest.

Nereus Acosta (Vice President, Liberal Party of the Philippines for Mindano, Philippines)

The Local Government Code (1991), which was enacted after the restoration of democracy in the Philippines in 1991, is seen as logical progression of a democratic government. The success of the program in reforming education, waste management, and fiscal management of localities are recognized by various international agencies. However, the success stories do not reflect the larger picture, or constitute a full and functioning democracy from the grassroots.

Democratic progress in the Philippines has been double-edged. The analogy can be extended to an upgraded software program, applied to an outmoded and archaic form of hardware. Despite new laws aiming for democratic progress, what we see is decentralized tyrannies governed by a deeply-engrained feudal mindset. The Western-style new codes of law collide with the informal and patrimonial political culture. Yet, many still regard the localities as fiefdoms and abuse the power accorded by the government. Although funds are automatically appropriated according to land size and population, they are liberally dispensed for patronage. This usually becomes worse a year or two before the elections. Due to the overwhelming negative influence of the local governments, voters become clients who dote on them for employment and protection. Despite the long-tradition of democracy, democratic progress in the Philippines is still plagued by feudalistic and oligopolistic values.

At the local level, democracy is still practiced formalistically. Although regular elections and freedom of the press and various policies safeguard civil society actions, the poor, who constitute 50 percent of the population, never take part in shaping the country’s future. The Philippines’ democracy can be termed as an ‘elitist democracy,’ where universal access to the central government and democracy is closely restricted.

The following factors pose a threat to local governments and grassroots movements. The emergence of a new kind of ‘bossism’ is the first factor. Empowered by capitals earned from logging, gambling, drug trafficking and prostitution, new forms of ‘bosses’ are able to engage in rent-seeking activities, using their newly-acquired power and the existing political structure. Thus, these new bosses can exert control over local state apparatuses to control the local government. New form of capitals, and new forms of bosses who practice rent-seeking from the state using power and existing structure, and their control over local state apparatus to control the local government.

The use of media by the privileged affluent, the rapidly expanding popular base and rapid increase in the birth rate, and endemic corruption also have detrimental effects on further democratic progress in the Philippines.

Discussions

Q: Cambodia’s situation is analogous to that in the Philippines, perhaps even worse. However, in Cambodia, the local governments do not even have a clue on where to begin. How did it all start in the Philippines?

A: The Philippines’ structural infrastructure is the legacy of colonialism. However, although the structural mechanism for success exists, we are having difficulty adapting and merging the structure with the patrimonial political culture.

Q: You talked about corruption being endemic in the Philippines. Did the local government play any part in worsening the situation?

A: The local government code is used by local officials who are charged with corruption. They can always invoke some of the provisions to delay the process. So the code can be used as a shield. But on the other hand, there are also signs that it is helping the fight against corruption. There are ways to redress this issue, however, there is a widespread feeling that for every one step we take forward towards democracy, we take two steps backward.

Q: Is the great number of municipalities in the Philippines efficient?

A: It is in fact inefficient. And we keep creating more municipalities. The local government agenda, which should focus more on addressing issues pertaining to the progress of the local communities, become more interested in the issue of dividing a big province, because it creates new allotments, new politicians, and new fiefdoms.

Nico Steytler (Professor, Community Law Center, South Africa)

There should be faith that you can use institutions in order to affect the political culture.

Institutions themselves can shape political culture. The local government can be the engine for change in the political culture. The reason we should use local governments for political change is because they are the driving forces of democracy.

Participatory democracy allows transparency, which is the third element of democracy because people can see what is going on. Transparency leads to accountability. Participatory democracy is made possible by the local groups. People must be the base for lobbyists.

The local government should also play an important role in the training of politicians. However, this can act as a double-edged sword. Local governments can teach politicians to govern properly, but can also teach corruption.

Multi-party democracy can be established at local governments. However, diverse parties allow diversity in the views on democratic progress. Equally important is to capture these different views and work together in a cooperative manner.

Some elements are critical for democracy to work. The local governments must have power. They must also have economic sustainability. In South Africa, the local government raises 92 percent of their income. Free basic services provided to the poor are thus paid for by the rich. A self-sustainable culture enables the public to say, “This is our money.” You can thus build accountability. The local governments must also match the size of the population. Addressing.

The rapid population growth is a difficulty that municipalities must meet. To preserve the ‘village’ idiom upon which the municipalities function, their size must be proportionate to the increase of the population. We must also work on building appropriate forms of inter-governmental relationships to maintain an adequate level of supervision over the local governments. All these can be realized under some form of constitutional protection.

In conclusion, the local government has the potential to change the political culture. In fact, it is the only potential for democracy.

Discussion

Q: In the pretext of exercising supervision over the municipalities, the central government in Zimbabwe actually wields influence. What is the situation in South Africa?

A: Constitutional protection of local autonomy is important in the relationship between the local authorities and the central governments. However, autonomy must be accompanied by supervision and the local communities must be able to justify their actions. This will strengthen the faith of the people in the local communities.

George Matthew (Director, Institute of Social Science, India)

Radical changes related to local governments were introduced to the Indian constitution under the 73^rd amendment in 1992. The structural changes in the amendment mandated that the Panchayat and municipalities would be the institution of governments. The Panchayat, at the district and national levels, constitutes the three levels of the Indian government. The basic units of democratic systems would be villages and ward committees. The amendment also opened and accommodated the former ‘Untouchables’ and indigenous peoples by allowing them greater access to the local and national government. One third of the seats reserved for the former ‘Untouchables’ and indigenous would be reserved for women. The elected officials serve a uniform five-year term. Independent election committees in each state are in charge of superintendence, direction and control of the electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the Panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice, as well as budget expenditure.

The 73^rd Amendment is the pillar of the decentralization process. We hope that the decentralization process will be contagious and continue its march. We are confident that a genuine democratic culture has been established in India. This will in turn have positive effects on the decentralization process.