Southern Africa \ Local democracy
This section contains information relating to all aspects of lcoal democracy and good governance at the local level. The Commonwealth principles on good practice for local democracy and good governance - known as the Aberdeen Agenda - which have been adopted by all CLGF members and are incorporated in the Commonwealth Charter, set the framework for the promotion of local democracy in the Commonwealth. The materials in this section relate to the constitutional and legal provisions for local government and include a range of studies, policy and training materials on local elections, leadership, community participation, representative local government, local government management and partnerships between local government and other key stakeholders such as traditional authorities.
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The City We Need 2.0 Towards a New Urban Paradigm ∗
How we plan, build, and manage our cities today will determine the outcome of our efforts to achieve a sustainable and harmonious development tomorrow. Well-planned cities allow all residents the opportunity to have safe, healthy, and productive lives. Well-designed cities present nations with major opportunities to promote social inclusion, resilience, and prosperity
Author: UN-Habitat Publisher: UN-Habitat Publication year: 2016
Women and Political Transition: The Risk of Replicating Inequality and the Fundamental Need for Gender Parity in Decision-Making ∗
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) includes gender equality and women’s empowerment programming as a key facet of its democracy-building work in countries transitioning from violent conflict to more stable political processes. IFES has programs on the ground in flashpoint countries such as Libya, Burkina Faso, and Syria, as well as countries striving to end the cycle of conflict such as Côte d’Ivoire and Myanmar. These countries represent a critical cohort of transitional states, which need tailored conflict and political transition interventions well in advance of credible, transparent and inclusive elections. Research has shown that gender equality is a bulwark for democracy – ensuring the resilience of democratic institutions that represent the needs of all their constituencies –and IFES works with partners to ensure women and men from all segments of society are part of the political and electoral process. Work in conflict and unstable democratic settings will continue for the foreseeable future and a commitment to inclusive democracy will be challenged by these settings in unique ways. The legal framework for elections and political processes are often shaped, drafted, or reformed during peace processes and political transitions. IFES is committed to programming that integrates gender equality and women’s empowerment into all political and electoral technical assistance, including evolving and complex transitional contexts. This is critical for two reasons: 1) Excluding women from the nascent stages of conflict resolution is a missed opportunity to have all voices influence the blueprint for peace and democracy in their countries, and 2) Excluding women from political transition processes risks replicating gender inequality in new structures and perpetuating it in societal attitudes. This briefing paper by IFES Senior Gender Specialist Jessica Huber outlines IFES’ gender-specific programming, which examines and responds to points along the continuum of crisis, political transition and stable democracy.
Author: Jessica Huber Publisher: International Foundation for Electoral Systems Publication year: 2016
The sustainable development goals and the global state of democracy indices
This issue of the GSoD In Focus explores the contribution that the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices can make to the review of progress on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The GSoD Indices can be used to complement the official indicators of the SDGs, to acquire in-depth knowledge on trends in achieving the specific targets of individual SDGs. In this regard, the GSoD Indices can be used to provide data on the SDGs for poverty (SDG 1), hunger (2), health and wellbeing (3), education (4), gender equality (5), inequalities (10), sustainable cities and communities (11), peace, justice and institutions (16), and partnerships for the goals (17), as well as across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Author: International IDEA Publisher: International IDEA Publication year: 2019
Gender and Political Recruitment in Malawian Local Councils
Why are women underrepresented in elected office? We propose a pilot study that will allow us to design plausibly effective and contextually appropriate interventions aimed at increasing women’s descriptive representation in the 2019 Malawian local council elections. Through the collection of open-ended, qualitative candidate surveys and a conjoint survey experiment to detect and disaggregate voter gender bias, we will ascertain whether and where female candidates face particular barriers in the political recruitment process. The results of this pilot will allow us to design future randomized intervention(s) targeted toward potential and / or existing female candidates to increase candidate entry and electoral success in the 2019 local elections. Here we present four documents pertaining to this project: (1) a general description of the project goals, (2) a pre-analysis plan for the conjoint analysis component of the research, (3) a survey designed for local candidates, and (4) a preliminary survey for citizens containing the conjoint analysis.
Author: Amanda Clayton Martha Johnson Ragnhild Muriaas Amanda Robinson Publisher: Evidence in Governance and Politics Publication year: 2017
Democratization (2nd Edition) A Critical Introduction
The second edition of this popular and authoritative text provides a truly global assessment of democratization in theory and practice in the contemporary world. It has been systematically revised and updated throughout to cover recent developments, from the impact of 9/11 and EU enlargement to the war in Iraq.
Author: Jean Grugel, Matthew Louis Bishop Publisher: Macmillan Publication year: 2013