Understanding political participation in West Africa: the relationship between good governance and local citizen engagement
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852315619024 |
| Author | Jennie Sweet-Cushman,Kelly Ann Krawczyk |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2017, Vol. 83(1S) 136–155
!The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852315619024
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
Understanding political
participation in West Africa:
the relationship between
good governance and
local citizen engagement
Kelly Ann Krawczyk
Auburn University, USA
Jennie Sweet-Cushman
Chatham University, USA
Abstract
Strengthening citizen participation in West Africa is an increasingly important aspect of
democratic development – especially in mitigating setbacks arising from poor govern-
ance. This article uses Round 4 Afrobarometer data to explore what stimulates local-
level participation by examining determinants against the backdrop of eight West
African nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, and
Senegal. Using a negative binomial regression model, our results are evaluated within
the framework of good governance, and show that local context, specifically relative
to citizens’ perceptions of and attitudes about the performance of local government,
matters when it comes to local political participation.
Points for practitioners
This study provides public administrators with a framework for understanding what
drives local-level, non-electoral citizen participation in West Africa, and helps them
understand how to increase local citizen engagement and build a more democratic
society through the pursuit of good governance principles. In addition, this study high-
lights the critical importance of local government performance, and the role of citizens’
attitudes and evaluations, in local civic engagement.
Keywords
citizen attitudes, citizen engagement, citizen evaluations, good governance,
local political participation, West Africa
Corresponding author:
Kelly Ann Krawczyk, Auburn University, Department of Political Science, 7080 Haley Center,
Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
Email: kak0037@auburn.edu
Introduction
As democracies have been established in Africa, an emphasis on increasing citizen
participation in decision-making has developed (Krishna, 2002; Lowndes et al.,
2006). Local citizen engagement is especially important in West Africa, which
struggles with issues of poor governance, undermining governmental legitimacy,
institutional capacity, and ethics. To combat this, enhanced citizen participation in
this region is viewed as an increasingly important aspect of democratic develop-
ment. Citizen participation in local governance can improve the management
of public resources, reduce corruption by increasing the accountability of public
servants and political leaders, and have a positive impact on democracy by sup-
porting the inclusion of marginalized groups, building civic skills and conceptions
of democratic citizenship, and contributing to policy feedback and improved policy
outcomes (Avritzer, 2002; Haque, 2003; Michels and De Graaf, 2010).
Despite these benefits, opportunities for citizens in West Africa to participate
are minimal. Even when opportunities exist, citizens often fail to participate much
beyond voting. Without this engagement in the local political system, local govern-
ments remain unaccountable and unresponsive. How do we strengthen citizenship
and encourage West Africans to demand accountability by interacting with the
political system between elections? Our study explores this question by providing
a theoretical and empirical assessment of individual-level factors impacting local-
level, non-electoral citizen engagement in West Africa.
Our model measures the effects of individual socio-economic and attitudinal
characteristics on local political participation, as well as how citizens’ perceptions
and evaluations of local government impact local participation. We offer three
main contributions to the research on local participation in West Africa. First,
we seek a better understanding of what socio-economic and attitudinal character-
istics increase the probability of citizens engaging more deeply in the local political
system. Most research on African participation focuses on national-level voting
behavior (Bratton et al., 2005; Kuenzi and Lambright, 2007, 2011). Other forms of
political participation are less studied, especially at the local level. Evidence from
existing studies often does not fit with traditional models of participation that
emphasize socio-economic and attitudinal determinants (Almond and Verba,
1963; Verba and Nie 1972; Verba et al., 1995). These factors do not seem to be
as important in the African context, where the poor and other marginalized groups
often participate more than those with higher levels of resources (Inman and
Andrews, 2009; Mattes, 2008). Moving beyond voting behavior, we focus on indi-
vidual-level determinants of other forms of local engagement in West Africa. This
contributes to theory-building surrounding local participation.
Second, we move beyond traditional models by assessing the effects of the local
institutional environment on local participation in West Africa. There is an emer-
ging literature which indicates that citizens’ attitudes and perceptions about gov-
ernment, their evaluations of government performance, and their experiences with
institutions of government affect whether or not citizens participate in the political
system (Bratton, 2013; Hiskey and Seligson, 2003; Holzner, 2010).
Krawczyk and Sweet-Cushman 137
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