Seizing and Stretching Participatory Space: Civil Society Participation in Tanzania’s Policy Processes
Seizing and Stretching Participatory Space: Civil Society Participation in Tanzania’s Policy Processes
a new ''Power of Civil Society" working paper
Tags: Tanzania, Civil Society Building
Additional tags: PRSP participation Civil society Tanzania
Civil society participation in PRSP processes has become part and parcel of modern aid modities. Assumed benefits include stronger checks and balances, inclusion of marginalized interests, and a broader support base for implementation. This hints at transformative potential. Yet, where governments or donors drive the process, participation hardly ever surpasses a mere consultative role and risks of cooption loom large.
Tanzania is a case in point. In this study, Hermine Engel explores the strategies and experiences of the Policy Forum Network for more meaningful and re-politicised participatory engagement in the PRSP proces.
Key findings include the need for civil society organizations to engage in both invited and autonomous spaces to avoid co-optation. Strategic coalitions to avoid situations of dominance and control are crucial. International actors should refrain from direct involvement and support front-stage local engagement. It is also important that civil society actors strategically position their claims in the larger political context.
The findings point at an increasing awareness and strategic negotiation of the dynamics affecting civil society participation in policy processes. Civil society actors are advised to continually assess these dynamics to ensure that they remain in a position in which they can influence policy towards transforming the structural conditions which perpetuate poverty and inequality.
Hermine Engel graduated from the Institute of Social Studies-ISS in 2006 with a Major in Politics of Alternative Development. Currently she is employed as the Programme Manager for Planact, a local South African NGO based in Johannesburg, South Africa.