Social Media as a communication platform represents a novel and growing space for individuals and groups as well as state and non-state actors. The value of digital data to political parties has resulted in the proliferation of digital products which are revolutionising political campaigning. Academic analysis has tended to focus on institutional reactions to social media and its use in political campaigning. However at the individual level political representatives have increasingly been using social media in innovative and creative ways. This paper seeks to capture and explore this innovation through an appraisal of the use of social media by local councillors. Twitter offers councillors a new political space within which to interact with citizens. This paper is based upon a digital audit of the actions and interactions of councillors of Bristol City Council on twitter. The paper seeks to profile not only who is engaging in this online environment but also through a content analysis suggests a framework to appraise the ways in which they are using twitter. In appraising the ways in which councillors are communicating the paper offers critical insights into the balance between individual, institutional, geographic and party political content and analyses the direction of content in terms of reporting or consulting. Analysis contrasts the potential reach and levels of dialogue being delivered through the use of micro-blogging with those offered by traditional mechanisms. The paper concludes with an assessment of the value of social media as a tool to facilitate and assure accountability, representation and engagement.  

Strengthening city leadership by introducing directly elected mayors is now firmly on the agenda in the UK. Several cities, including Bristol, Leicester, Liverpool, and London already have directly elected mayors. Manchester plans to introduce a ‘metro mayor’ in 2017, with the prospect of other cities to follow. Supporters claim that the mayoral model of governance can provide visible, accountable, and effective city leadership. Critics argue that the model can lead to an over centralisation of power, weakening the role of councillors, undermining confidence in local democracy.

The study has been undertaken to analyse the state of social accountability in the Union Parishad in Bangladesh. The primary objective of the study is to explore the nature and extent of avenues to the citizens to be engaged with the UP activities in different regions as well as UPs under the coverage of special projects and UPs not having coverage of any special project. The study particularly looked at the implementation of the legal-administrative framework particularly the UP Act 2009 (Ward Shava, Plan and Budget Sessions, Standing Committees, UDCC, etc) and the innovations of different projects like SHARIQUE, UPGP and HYSAWA. Besides, the study also adopted strategies to find out the informal traditional practices of responsiveness and accountability developed over the years because of the demands and expectations of the citizens and the community. The UP Chairs and Members passionately respond to those demands. The study reviewed the existing models about governance and development that are rooted in developed countries and looked at the structures, relationships, interests and incentives system through the lens of social accountability specially the community responsiveness. Authors believe (as also literature suggests i.e. IDS 2010) that the Informal institutions and personalized relationships with electorates contribute substantially in ensuring a functional local governance along with reasonable society and culture specific social accountability mechanism developed at the grassroots.

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have the highest rates of HIV prevalence in the world accounting for an estimated 71% of all new infections (UNAIDS 2010). HIV prevalence is greatest in urban informal areas, caused largely by the proliferation of a variety of risk environments that facilitate the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. As a strategic response to the complex nature of the HIV/AIDs epidemic in urban areas, decentralised multisectoral HIV/AIDs responses at the local government level have been adopted. These are seen as a sustainable way of dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDs in a number of African cities, in line with internationally accepted recommendations. Now that a number of local governments in African cities have adopted HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses, the question can be asked to what degree is this is this response being implemented in these countries, and what challenges are faced by cities as they adopt this approach? This article reviews HIV/AIDS multisectoral responses in African cities, and discusses the challenges that face urban local governments as they implement these responses.

This paper provides an overview of key trends and developments impacting on local democracy and is intended to be a broad-ranging background paper to assist in discussions at a workshop organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), in partnership with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), to be held in Stockholm in early November 2014, which will bring together academics and practitioners to explore current trends and developments in local democracy.