Engaging Citizens - Week 3 - Public Service Delivery

I am studying an online course called Engaging Citizens: A Game Changer for Development? and trying to blog as I go. Although the course is focussed on international development, I want to try to apply the ideas to UK politics (both national and local) and also to student engagement in higher education.

Here are my thoughts on week 3:

Video 1: The Role of Accountability in Service Delivery

Governments are meant to be elected by and serve the people. The Accountability Triangle: Poor people communicate with Policymakers who communicate with Service Providers (Long route of accountability), or Poor people directly communicate with Service Providers (Short route of accountability). Preconditions of the short route of accountability are Information (from providers) and Feedback (from citizens). Information needs to be Relevant, Localized, Accessible, Reliable and accurate, and Sustained and consistent. The benefits of feedback on service delivery include the ability to identify problems quickly, and ability to identify what is going well and who is making things work. If you ask for feedback and don't take it seriously, then you breed cynicism. Common myths of citizen engagement include: 1) Citizen engagement will solve all problems, 2) Technology is a game changer, 3) We can avoid politics. 

Reflection: My perception is that people feel that services are not accountable to them at UK and local government level. There is annual information from local government about council income and expenditure in council tax bills. I don't think there is an equivalent at UK level. There is no opportunity to give feedback on government information. There are occasional consultations on developments but nothing sustained over time. My perception is that students do feel closer to services in higher education (or at least they are regularly surveyed about them and know how to complain about them). Student feedback is sought on academic but not management issues. Could students and members of staff help make better management decisions?

Video 2: Methods and Tools for Accountability in Service Delivery

Services are normally the outputs of a cycle of Legislation, Design, Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation, Legislation etc. Citizens can engage at all stages. Tools for accountability include: 1) Right to Information laws (used by NGOs to inform citizens about elected representatives). 2) Social audits (citizens use information from the state to place direct demands for accountability on the state i.e. at public meetings). These can raise awareness, empower citizens in engaging with the state, but addressing grievances can be slow. 3) Monitoring outcomes (regular surveys can inform debate).

Reflection: Both UK and local governments have Freedom of Information processes but not really an equivalent to social audits. NGOs (and others) can get some information but I'm not aware them collecting data to inform policy. In higher education, the Freedom of Information act also applies. Student forums are similar to social audits but I am not sure what information they actually receive (some student survey results?). External organisations do use the information (e.g. newspaper league tables, surveys of appeals and complaints etc.). The people that run the services do want student feedback but i am not sure how often the feedback loop is closed (e.g. "You said..., we did...").

Video 3: Case Study: Twaweza's Uwezo Initiative

There has been a huge increase in enrolment at primary and secondary schools in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, but are children learning? 20% students in grade 7 could not pass a grade 2 test! The Uwezo initiative is a standard test across countries to measure attainment. Local residents volunteer as citizen researchers. Paid district co-ordinators organise the volunteers. Parents are given immediate feedback to encourage action to challenge low achievement in schools. However parents were not as active as expected in response. This was because they already knew the problem and were already trying to improve things on an individual basis but they felt that they had no power over teachers. However making the national information public gave parents collective power. The result was a national dialogue about the issue. 

Reflection: It is hard to apply the initiative to the UK where there is effective state education. However there are some principles to reflect on: 1) Local residents can be local data collectors. 2) Giving people information does not necessarily make people activists. 3) People already know local information but not necessarily national information. 4) National information/data makes a problem less personal and therefore more likely to be approached impartially. None of the four principles seem to be applied in UK government, local government or higher education.

Video 4: Breaking Views UNICEF Interviews Danny Sriskandarajah

African governments have traditionally had a lack of resources and lack of trust by their citizens. There has been a growth of citizen collective action to fill gaps. The role of citizens and civil society organisations has expanded over time. Some citizens have been given tools to hold state accountable (e.g. reporting that a teacher has not turned up). If there is no response by the state then frustrations build up, possibly into violence. Young people are active in using tools to hold governments accountable between formal elections.

Reflection: Even in UK, there have been some developments between elections, e.g referenda (AV and devolution at national level, council tax at local level). Higher education still uses periodic student surveys rather than students providing data on a more continuous basis. 

Quiz

1st attempt 8/10

2nd attempt 10/10

Short answer question

There was an assessment due this week - 600 words on:

Is citizen engagement a game changer for development? Argue your case by referencing the concepts, theoretical frameworks and examples highlighted in this course.

Although i would like to have attempted this, i have not had the time to do most of the reading this week, let alone additional writing. I might do a blog post on this at the end of the course, to summarise my thoughts. On reflection, I could have set some reminders and planned the assessment in advance of the deadline.