Citizenship, Governance, and Social Policy in the Developing World

Despite decades of effort to strengthen public institutions, good governance remains one of the most vexing challenges of development. The past decade has resulted in a frenzy of efforts by donors and development agencies to analyze and strengthen state institutions and supply better governance. In contrast, relatively little effort has been invested in understanding the underlying social and political characteristics of bad governance. A preference for supply-side solutions and a posture of neutrality toward political processes has led development practitioners to exclude institutions of citizenship from their purview. Public policy formulation is, however, inherently political. Social policy, and indeed all public policy, emerges as a result of contestations among citizens and is invariably a compromise between what is desirable, feasible, and acceptable. The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate the relevance of concepts of citizenship to the discourse on governance. The book chapters, by well-known academics and policy analysts, rely on comparative analysis and case studies to examine how developing countries are addressing three key characteristics of governance - treatment of social diversity, state capacity, and democratic accountability. Policies that promote inclusive citizenship and accountability of public institutions have direct consequences on the state's ability for social provisioning. The links between state effectiveness, accountability and legitimacy of public institutions are undeniable. Good governance requires the transformation of subjects and beneficiaries into citizens capable of claiming their rights to foster social integration within society and an acceptable social contract with the state.