A Users' Guide to Measuring Local Governance

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4 Local Democracy Assessment Guide Producer International IDEA History In 2001, IDEA published a handbook titled “Democracy at the Local Level: The International IDEA Handbook on Representation, Participation, Conflict Management and Governance.”This was a comprehensive guide for local authorities, civil society, and the international donor community on the subject of local democracy. As part of its thematic work on democracy at the local level, IDEA has also developed a number of tools designed to assist practitioners and assistance providers in supporting democratic development at the local level.The Local Democracy Assessment methodology is one such tool, developed in 2002-03. • give outsiders, such as peer reviewers, a tool by which to conduct independent and impartial evaluations of democratic governance at the city level. Applicability It is currently being applied mainly in Africa and in the Arab region, but can be used anywhere in the world. Types and sources of data used The information needed for this assessment is both objective and subjective. Primary data collection is through meetings, workshops, interviews and discussions conducted by local teams. Publicly available data collected though documentary sources is used to double-check subjective information. Objectives The purpose of the Local Democracy Assessment Guide is to systematically review and catalogue the quality of representative as well as participatory democracy in a city. In particular, it aims to: • provide municipal officials, administrators, partners (such as non-government organizations), and civic leaders with a practical tool to conduct self-evaluations of democratic life in their city; • identify the principal strengths and weaknesses of democratic life and ways to further consolidate strengths and to rectify weaknesses; • investigate the contributions that local or city level democracy makes toward overall consolidation of democracy in democratizing societies; • stimulate further thinking on the ways to define and describe the best ways to structure and practice local democracy; and Methodology The Local Democracy Assessment comprises 15 ‘assessment areas’ grouped under three themes: the city in context, the quality of representative democracy, and the quality of participatory democracy (see Table 7). Each one of the 15 assessment areas is assessed based on a detailed list of questions. The Guide is an interactive questionnaire applied through participatory research and which relies on an intimate knowledge of local situations. Each theme is assessed based on a fairly comprehensive set of questions. Assessment teams typically consist of a representative of the national association of local municipalities, a representative of the local authority, an academic with an expertise in public administration, and an individual from civil society. After completing the questionnaire, the assessment team synthesises the findings in a report and discusses them critically, identifying areas where consensus exists and where it does not. The most significant problems are identified in each area, and recommendations are made by the team in the form of an “action plan” for improving local democracy. 70 UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
Table 7: Local Democracy Assessment themes and indicators THE CITY IN CONTEXT 1 geography and spatial features 2 demography, social relations, and human development indicators 3 economic structure and municipal finance 4 human rights and human security REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY 5 national and legal frameworks 6 electoral system design and performance 7 party system 8 evaluating elected officials 9 election administration 10 evaluating voter participation PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY 11 local authorities and participatory democracy (openness, fairness, transparency, responsiveness, accountability) 12 civil society, the private sector, the international community and the media 13 forms and methods of citizen outreach 14 evaluating citizen outreach 15 referenda and citizen’s initiatives Key actors/stakeholders The guide is primarily designed for use by those well-versed in the issues and concepts of local governance. The assessment usually is facilitated by an external independent organization. Assessment teams typically consist of a representative of the national association of local municipalities, a representative of the local authority, an academic with an expertise in public administration, and an individual from civil society. Results reporting format Results of the questionnaire are presented in a narrative report comprising four main sections: • city in context (including geography and spatial features, demography and social relations, economic base and municipal finance, human rights and human security) • representative democracy (including institutions and processes) • participatory democracy (including institutions and processes) • conclusions and recommendations Box 2 presents an extract from the narrative report in Lusaka, Zambia. Coverage Pilot tested in four cities in East and Southern Africa: Gaborone (Botswana), Lusaka (Zambia), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya), and in selected cities in four Arab countries: Egypt, Morocco, Yemen and Jordan. Timeline Initiated and pilot tested between 2002 – 2004. Ongoing. Gender focus The Guide gives a special attention to gender issues with respect to the existence of norms and measures guaranteeing gender representation and inclusion in local government institutions (section 5 on national and legal frameworks); the percentage of women candidates in elections (section 7. on party system); and gender representation in voter turnout (section 10. on evaluating voter participation). In addition, data on demography, social relations and human development indicators, as well as the economic structure (in the section focusing on the city context) is expected to be disaggregated by gender. A Users’ Guide to Measuring Local Governance 71
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A Users’ Guide to Measuring Local
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Contents Acknowledgements Acronyms
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Acknowledgements AUTHORS Alexandra
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Introduction This Guide is intended
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1 Assessments of Local Governance
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Decentralized governance for develo
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and local specificity. In order to
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A critical step in developing an as
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Box 5. Key phases in a governance a
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achieve the results. These can incl
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Gender-sensitivity in governance is
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1.11 Key contextual factors influen
Page 28 and 29: findings of the assessment in ways
Page 30 and 31: for union parishads (UPs) comprise
Page 32 and 33: Box 14. Short-, Medium- and Long-Te
Page 35 and 36: Voices from the Trenches 2 2.1 Choo
Page 37 and 38: governments, and representatives of
Page 39: the assessment - in terms of social
Page 43 and 44: Case Studies 3 The following four f
Page 45 and 46: Case Study 2: Moving from governmen
Page 47 and 48: Case Study 3: Balancing comparabili
Page 49 and 50: Case Study 4: Ensuring uptake of as
Page 51 and 52: References • Aberbach, J.D. and R
Page 53 and 54: Source Guide
Page 55 and 56: The summary matrix also indicates w
Page 57 and 58: Summary matrix: Main features of to
Page 65 and 66: Table 3: UGI sub-indices and indica
Page 67 and 68: Weaknesses • While the UGI helps
Page 69 and 70: Table 4: Local Governance Barometer
Page 71 and 72: Table 5: Scale to assess local gove
Page 73 and 74: Jean-Michel Dufils, PACT (Madagasca
Page 75 and 76: Table 6: Principles and indicators
Page 77: Where to find it The initiative is
Page 81 and 82: Poverty focus Not explicit. The onl
Page 83 and 84: Local governance performance measur
Page 85 and 86: Europe. They have first been used i
Page 87 and 88: Table 9: Methodological Guidelines
Page 89 and 90: 7 Governance Index (Indonesia) Prod
Page 91 and 92: Table 12: Example of form for colle
Page 93 and 94: Where to find it The initiative is
Page 95 and 96: Table 15: MIDAMOS’s themes, indic
Page 97 and 98: Table 17: Grading System Qualificat
Page 99 and 100: Table 18: Framework of module on
Page 101 and 102: Key actors/stakeholders The initial
Page 103 and 104: Table 20: Indicators belonging to t
Page 105 and 106: y the State and the municipality as
Page 107 and 108: 11 Council of Europe’s Guide to D
Page 109 and 110: Table 25: Evaluation and comments f
Page 111 and 112: 12 Citizen Report Cards (CRC) Produ
Page 113 and 114: Box 5: Citizen Report Card applicat
Page 115 and 116: 13 Social Audit of Local Governance
Page 117 and 118: Box 7: Sample indicators for Social
Page 119 and 120: 14 Social Audit of Governance and D
Page 121 and 122: Box 8: Report extract - The Social
Page 123 and 124: Table 26: Themes and issues analyse
Page 125 and 126: 15 Local Governance Self-Assessment
Page 127 and 128: Table 27: EXAMPLES OF KEY ISSUES FR
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16 Governance for Local Development
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Coverage Following the pilot testin
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Table 32: PBGS in Uganda, Tanzania
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Table 34: Nepal - Summary of the st
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Manual for assessment of Minimum Co
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Table 35: LGPMS - perfofrmance them
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Coverage The LGPMS was field-tested
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19 Index of Responsibility, Transpa
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Gender focus Not explicit. Poverty
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Table 39: Dimensions for the standa
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21 Local Integrity Initiative Produ
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Table 42: Integrity Indicator score
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Figure 6: 2008 Scorecard Summary: L
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Table 43: Two examples of questions
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Where to find it Users’ Guide & s
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A Users' Guide to Measuring Local Governance

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