Three essays on Peoples Participation and Local Governance in

Development discourse
(Evidences from Pakistan)

INITIAL PROPOSAL

From,
Zian Rafique
For,
Dr.Khoo Suet Leng

Area of Study: Empirical Social Sciences/Policy Research

Essay 1: Peoples Participation in Local Governance & Decentralization in

Development Discourse: A Survey based Study
The study will seek to assess the extent to which citizen participation is being undertaken by
local government as articulated in Pakistans legal framework and explores the extent to
which municipalities developmental role is being conceived through the incorporation of
participatory practices. Additionally, it will provide an assessment of the intensity level of
citizen participation as understood by local government authorities, while comparing these
answers with the perceptions of Civil Society Organizations (CSO).

Justification:
The rationale for undertaking this study is informed by numerous considerations.
Firstly, in describing and assessing the causes for the rise to prominence of decentralization
and citizen participation, this dissertation will look at the broader theoretical context and
concepts relevant to the subject-matter. This includes looking at changes in development
theories to provide a framework for discussion of the rationale for decentralization and citizen
participation in development.
Secondly, the increasing global attention paid to participation and decentralization, statements
in international summits and declarations, government policy documents and discourses, and
especially, in Pakistans legal and policy documents, suggest that these approaches may have
considerable potential.
A developmental role for local government has been understood as the central responsibility
of municipalities. Municipalities are now mandated to work together with local communities
to find sustainable ways to meet their needs and improve the quality of their lives.
Municipalities are called upon to support social and economic development in their

communities and they are mandated to consult and involve the communities in these matters,
since the communities are expected to own the development processes. The legal framework
and policy documents place the onus for development on local authorities and communities
and call for the establishment of partnerships for local governments to work with the private
and community sectors.
Thirdly, Pakistans citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with the quality and quantity of
services provided by local government. Moreover, while it is important to recognise the
potential of decentralization and citizen participation in democratic models of local
governance, the gap that exists between the legal and policy frameworks for decentralization
to promote participation, and what in fact really occurs, needs to be better understood. This
gap shows the need to understand the nature, dynamics, methods and relations of
decentralization and participation in this new context. The dialectic between theory and
practice in decentralized and participatory development will be discussed in this thesis
through an empirical & qualitative study. This study will examine the complex relationship
between decentralization and the role of citizen participation in democratic local governance.
It will develop a general framework that allows local governments perspectives, problems,
views and opportunities connected to participatory approaches in local governance to be
evaluated and understood while recognizing the broader issues of political economy that
contextualize the possibilities or the potential of participatory development to be
transformative.

Research Objectives and Guiding Research Questions

This research seeks to identify key features of current development theory and policy
specifically related to the emergence of decentralization and citizen participation discourses,
to design and test through a case study in Pakistan- an assessment framework for

decentralization and participatory spaces in local governance and to make a contribution to

both theoretical interpretations and applied policy.
Firstly, it intends to discuss the concepts of participation and decentralization, their various
meanings, contradictions and intersections. It will provide an overview of these concepts by
reviewing their definitions, stated advantages and objectives, and by critically assessing both
their conceptual coherence and their utility as operational and policy tools. This study will
provide an operationalization of both concepts in order to be able to assess the extent to which
these practices are being implemented and which problems and challenges are being faced
during their implementation. This will help to better understand how, and under what
conditions, citizen participation and decentralized local governance can contribute to more
inclusive and democratic social change.
This work would aims to construct an analytical framework that will facilitate the assessment
of the degree to which the decentralization and participatory discourse is translated into
practice, and to explore the causes of the implementation gap or shortfalls. This conceptual
framework for assessing citizen participation in decentralized governance will provide a
model to define the issues that should be considered and prioritized in the formulation and
evaluation of decentralization and participatory strategies for democratic local governance.
In particular, this conceptualization will assist in the evaluation and understanding of the
patterns of decentralization and citizen participation in local governance in the Pakistan. The
research seeks to assess the extent to which municipalities developmental role is being
conceived through the incorporation of participatory practices. Additionally it will provide an
evaluation of the intensity levels of citizen participation as understood by local government
authorities, while comparing these answers with the perceptions of CSOs. It intends to

identify and analyze the key challenges and constraints restricting the incorporation of
participatory development approaches in local governance.
After establishing this diagnosis, the research will identify and discuss possible strategies to
overcome the problems and limitations that explain the gap between theory, policy
formulation and practice. This dissertation seeks to discuss the suitability and potential of
decentralization and citizen participation in Pakistan, and to suggest policy guidelines in the
light of these findings.
The research seeks an answer to the following broad questions:
If decentralization and citizen participation hold so many promises, why does there appear to be a wide gap
between the promised land of participatory and decentralized development and everyday realities?

Participation is given high priority; but what does that mean for local government authorities?
What are the problems faced in the implementation of participatory approaches in local
governance?
What are the implementation constraints that municipalities face?
What are the consequences of citizen participation in local governance in terms of changes in
policy and improved governance?
Is there any evidence of new systems of accountability and greater responsiveness of
administration and political organs of government to local needs and thus increased
efficiency?
Has this diversified the types of voices heard and considered in political process?

Related theories:

Modernization theory, the merging of evolutionary and functionalist theories, served as

the basis for the prevailing macrodevelopmental discourse. Modernization is defined as a
gradual progression from primitive, or traditional, to more advanced societies. The goal of
this movement is the establishment of a modern, industrialized, urban-based society.
This theory offered the newly independent nations of the third world the promise of a
guided transition to the state of a developed industrial society (Haines, 2005). In
Eisenstadts words modernization is the process of change towards those types of social,
economic and political systems that have developed in Western Europe and North
America from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth and have then spread to other
European countries, and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the South American,
Asian and African continents (Eisenstadt, 1966, pp. 5-6). Under this perspective
backward or traditional societies remained as such because of the lack of adequate
political institutions and the lack of capacities in developing countries to move towards a
more advanced state of society. Pre-capitalist and pre-industrial institutional structures in
developing countries worked against development needs and processes. In other words,
this approach sees the dichotomy traditional/modern as being explained by the inability of
third world governments to allow the evolutionary and functionalist forces to work
properly. Thus, developing countries need to create institutions and the capacity to
facilitate such a process of transformation (a recommendation which is not very different
from what in contemporary development discourses is known as the good governance
agenda).

The theory of comparative advantage considered international trade to be the engine of

development, which would enable underdeveloped countries to advance towards the
income levels of developed countries, hence reducing the gap between them.

Rostows stage models of economic development, national growth and development plans
and a belief in the ability of growth centres to catalyse growth in a region, all enjoyed
widespread popularity. In general terms, this type of state intervention and planning has
been referred to as top-down planning because of the degree of control exercised by the
central state over the entire regional development and planning process. This is reffered as
the traditional approach to local development and planning. The emphasis on
conventional bureaucratic service delivery, based on the conscientious application of rules
and procedures, is also characteristic of this approach to local planning and development
(FCR, 1999).

Other approaches such as Human or people-centered development (Korten, 1991),

development from below (Sthr and Taylor, 1981) development from within (Taylor
and Mackenzie, 1992), endogenous development (Wilson, 1995) and bottom up
development are all denominations that synthesize a turn to singularities, the local,
culture, identity discourses and micro perspectives of development processes. These
approaches take up some of the themes of the basic needs approach and incorporate a
range of material from alternative development thinking (gender, eco-development,
participation) and stress that growth without equity and some form of redistribution of
wealth and resources, does not necessarily constitute development.

A related concept that has emerged is the idea of self-determination. One of the key
proponents of assertive, empowering assistance for people to meet their needs through self
reliance is Manfred Max-Neef who calls on the state to open up opportunities for direct
participation by different social actors, leading to a more complete and harmonious
development of the system of fundamental human needs (Max-Neef, 1992 and Max-Neef,
Elizalde and Hopenhayn, 1991). This has led to a school known as Human Scale
Development, defined as focused and based on the satisfaction of fundamental human

needs, on the generation of growing levels of self-reliance, and on the construction of

organic articulations of people with nature and technology, of global processes with local
activity, of the personal with the social, of planning with autonomy, and of civil society
with the state (Max-Neef, Elizalde and Hopenhayn, 1991, p. 12).

Combining concepts from the sustainable development paradigm with a more holistic
approach to poverty and development, Chambers developed the idea of Sustainable
Livelihoods, with an aim to enhancing the efficiency of development cooperation and to
address the failure of previous development approaches. The Sustainable Livelihoods
Approach is defined as an integrated development method that involves an assessment of
community assets, adaptive strategies and technologies contributing to livelihood systems,
and the analysis of cross-sectoral policies and investment requirements to enhance
livelihoods to achieve sustainable development (IISD, 1999).

The New Rurality approach puts the concept of territorial development at the heart of
rural development analysis. The backbone of the new rurality is the territorial character
of rural development, and it holds sustainable development as a basic policy goal. It
recognizes that in current rural spaces diverse activities (agriculture, mining, handicrafts,
commerce, services, etc) and diverse social actors (State, producer organizations, farmers,
native population, rural and urban communities, NGOs, etc) are involved. The structural
changes recognized in the new rurality are indexed by the growth of non- farming
activities as an important source of rural income. This approach proposes the territorial
nature of rural development, in opposition to the sectoral (associated with farming
activities) character sustained by the traditional approaches (see i.a. Teubal, 2003). New
rurality types of studies and policy prescriptions include bottom-up approaches for rural
development.

The New Public Management (NPM) approach has been very influential in development
planning. The Market-based approach, as the FCR (1999) argues, emphasizes involving
private sector management techniques, e.g. performance management, expansion of line
management autonomy, reducing administrative overheads, and outsourcing service
delivery (e.g. public-private partnerships, competitive tendering) (FCR, 1999, p. 16). This
approach regards residents as customers of public services that can voice their
preferences through market mechanisms (e.g. choosing which services they would like to
pay for) (Schacter, 2000). Community participation in planning is largely redundant.

Methodology
When undertaking research on the relationships between decentralization and citizen
participation, a variety of research and assessment criteria need to be employed in order to
ensure accuracy and objectivity. Based on a variety of data collection methods combining
both primary and secondary data, this study combines and triangulates diverse methodological
approaches. The study would be divided into two parts.
Qualitative Study: Pakistans Local Government Legal and Policy Framework Review
Based on the theoretical framework developed in this thesis, the research includes a critical
analysis of the legal framework and the relevant policy documents related to decentralization and
citizen participation in local governance for the Pakistan empirical study. The research will briefly
outline and examine the Pakistan legislation and policy documents on decentralization and citizen
participation in local governance. This review allow the researcher, by the act of deconstruction
and critique, to provide some guidelines on the kind of legal and policy framework obstacles that
impede effective decentralization and citizen participation in local governance and how these
obstacles could be overcome to facilitate the relationship between decentralized and more
participatory forms of policy.

Empirical Study: A Survey on Citizen Participation in Local Governance in the Pakistan

This part of the empirical study will be carried out in order to consider local government and local
community understandings of participation, their intensity levels and the challenges with respect
to integrating participatory approaches in the local governance process. The perceptions of
municipal decision makers and CSO representatives regarding the causes for success and failure
of decentralization and citizen participation processes would be the key focus of the investigation.
This part of the study will also develop to assess the extent to which different mechanisms for
citizen participation in local governance are being used and what problems this practice presents.
Primary data would be get through Structured Questionnaires and open-ended questions.

Essay 2: Political Accountability & Devolution at the Local Government Level:

Evidence from Pakistan
Devolution of power is one of the most important reforms introduced in Pakistan in recent
years. It has brought about a radical transformation in the political and administrative
structure of the country, especially at local level. By transferring powers and decision-making
to the grass root levels, and promoting community especially women participation in
government, devolution can make a significant contribution to hold the public representatives
and government officials accountable. Given this, it can be argued that new system will
promote better local representation and transparent decision making which ultimately leads to
good governance. Several studies have evaluated the impact of devolution on accountability
in the developing countries (see for example, Faguet and Sanchez, 2006; Anderson, 2004),
however, no research, especially empirical in nature, has been conducted to measure the
relationship between devolution and accountability in Pakistan. The research will test the
relationship between devolution and political accountability in Pakistan by examining first the
extent of citizens participation in the policy formulation and implementation process at local
level, second, the level of transparency in decision making process and, third, the degree of
accessibility of general public to public information. The demographic impacts on
participation and access to information have also been assessed. This research will provide the
theoretical framework for the link between decentralization and political accountability;
briefly describes Pakistans local government system, focusing on the structural, functional
and procedural changes introduced and accountability mechanism provided; tested the
relationship of devolution and political accountability in Pakistan and provides discussion,
conclusions and recommendations.

THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

Before the popularity of globalization, highly centralized system of administration was

working in the world with weak regional governments (Pose and Gill, 2002). The advent of
the 21st century changed the whole scenario and caused greater tendencies towards
devolution (Pose and Gill, 2003). Consequently, concern of strengthening local government
got momentum in countries of both the developed and developing world (Geddes, 2006;
Devries, 2000). Decentralization promotes accountability through transparent decision
making (Nupia, 2006). Similarly, Faguet and Sanchez (2006) argue that decentralized bodies
can be more easily watched, accessed and monitored which facilitate holding these bodies
accountable. However the practical experiences of decentralized societies show mixed results
regarding the extent of accountability at local level. Manor (1996) reports an improved
information flow between government and citizens and improved level of accountability and
transparency (Faguet and Sanchez, 2006). Similarly, Blair (2000) argues that the major
promise of democratic decentralization is the promotion of participation and accountability
and effective public service delivery. Whereas, other authors such as Nygren (2005);
Anderson (2004) considered decentralization much more problematic and confusing. The
reason for such deficiencies is limited popular participation, non-transparent decision making
culture and non-accessibility of the general public-to-public information.

Popular participation
It is widely agreed that citizens participation is an essential feature of a democratic political
system as Verba and his colleagues insist, Citizen Participation is at the heart of democracy
(Verba et al., 1995). The degree of equality in popular participation can have important equity
and efficiency effects. If one demographic group, for example, is more politically active than
another, parties and politicians are likely to cater to this groups interests more, and policies
will deliver more benefits to it than to other groups. Biased participation can also create

economic distortions if politicians divert resources to specific groups of more active citizens
(Benabou, 2000; Rodriguez, 1998). It is well documented that decentralization can facilitate
good governance through empowering people, allowing them to participate in decision
making, affecting their every day life (Jutting et al., 2004). The opportunity it provides for
participation should also increase security and accountability of public representatives in
delivering services and transparency in decision making (Herridge, 2002).

Questions
Following Questions have been developed and will be tested in this study: 1. To what extent, Participation, transparency and access to information significantly explain
variance in political accountability
2. In contrast to representatives, if general public report limited political accountability?.
3. If existing disparities and power relations determine level of popular participation?
4. If Demographic background of the people determine their level of access to information?

Research Methods
The study would use survey method to collect the primary data. The target population of the
study would include the registered voters, local representatives and the local government
officers (BPS- 17 and above) of the District.
A questionairre would be designed on the series of statements about the citizens participation
in elections, meetings, debates and discussions; transparent decision making process
(oppenness and legitimacy) and access to information (resources estimation, developmental
expenditure, non- developmental expenditure, routine matters, and rules & regulations). The
database will be analyzed using SPSS to run t-tests like multiple regression analyses.

Essay 3: Womens Participation in Local government for good governance :

Insight from Pakistan
The main purpose of this work would be to explore the complexities involved in engendering
local governance and to identify strategies to encourage gender equitable partnerships
between stakeholders in local governance in Third World countries. Local governance refers
to the dynamic yet complicated process of interaction between state and non-state actors
involved in local level development processes. Considering the invisibility of women in local
governance, this study would focus heavily on women' s agency, that is, the way women
redefine and reconstruct identities and interactions in engendering local governance despite
the given constraints.
In Pakistan, Both within and beyond the household there are constraints put on women that
impede their participation in local governance. Reproduction of images of ' good' and 'bad'
women is one of the most effective instruments to subordinate and control women in Pakistan,
meaning that it is not easy for women to formulate and defend their personal interests. Women
often experience severe threats of physical, psychological and verbal violence when they
attempt to influence formal decision making at the local level.
In recent years, there has been growing interest in the role of gender in governance as well as
increasing concern about the marginalisation of women in public decisionmaking. In relation
to good governance it is said that ' gender equality and social inclusion must go hand-in-hand
with local democracy and participation and that these goals are mutually reinforcing '
(UNESCAP, 2000 :30). Therefore engendering local governance is a vital component in
achieving good governance, and ways to bring this about deserves to be explored as it is a
critical development issue.
This study focuses on gender aspects of one level of governance - namely, governance at the
level of local communities in Pakistan. The reason for choosing this focus lies in the urgency

of bringing gender to the forefront in discussions on local governance and development since
it is at this level of governance that the majority of grassroots women interact with
government. Another more important consideration in discussing local governance from a
gender perspective is that it enables women to emerge as active citizens who, through their
daily activities and strategies, continuously reshape structures and processes surrounding them
in their struggle for a more equal and just redistribution of development resources.
The main objective of this research is to explore the interaction between women, community
organisations and local government and the complexities of incorporating a gender
perspective in local governance. Local governance is about a dynamic and complicated
process of interaction between state and non-state actors involved in the local level
development process. Engendering local governance requires an interactive process of
governing in which women, community organizations and local government may all
contribute. Focusing merely on an analysis of local government institutions, on women
working within local government or on women's organizations as separate entities is
inadequate to examine the engendering of local governance. Rather, it is essential to consider
the various structures and actors involved in governance and their interaction rather than
looking only at local government institutions. A study which focuses on the interaction
between women, community organizations and local government, and their strategies in
managing and organizing their relationships may then contribute to providing theoretical and
empirical insights to the realm of engendering local governance.
Thus, the concept of governance rather than the concept of government will provide a suitable
framework for exploring gender issues in the development process at the local level. Whereas
the concept of government perceives governing as a one-way, top-down process in which
government institutions and agents are the power holders, the concept of governance views
governing as the outcome of the integration of various capacities of local stakeholders in

managing their relationships and in influencing processes at the local level. In other words,
the governance concept has shifted governing as the management of the society into
management by and with the society, which provides a space for the emergence of women as
one of the various stakeholders at the local level.
This will thus extend the discussion of gender in local governance beyond the realm of
women's involvement in local government. When discussing the gendered nature of the state,
feminist theory will be drawn upon. This study is based primarily on a gender perspective
which recognizes the existence of power relations between women and men as stakeholders in
local governance in engendering local governance.

The neglect of a gender perspective in local governance

The UN and international donor agencies consider gender as one of the most critical
development issues that needs to be explored. The UNDP report on women's political
participation stresses the urgency of addressing gender equity in governance in order to
achieve equal opportunities and voice for women and men in all spheres (Banerjee and
Oquist, 2000:2). It states that the invisibility of women in governance contributes to the
neglect of gender-sensitive policies which preserves gender inequity in households in the way
that women's needs, for example with regard to their health and security, become
marginalized. This means that gender balance and gender equity should be promoted for good
governance to occur at all levels of governance-household, local and national.
Despite the reality that women actively contribute to community development, policy makers
and planners at the local level often fail to recognize women's specific needs and fail to
consult them or to address their problems ( Moser, 1989; Beal, 1997). Both women's
contributions and specific needs and interests in local governance may easily disappear under
the umbrella of 'the community'. The gendered dynamics of local government structures and

the culture of male domination in local government (Halford,1992) provide explanations for
the invisibility of both women's contributions and specific needs. The neglect of women and
women's issues discourages women from getting involved in local governance which then
entrenches their invisibility in it. Additionally, the constructions of gender in society put some
constraints on women participating in local governance. Women' s involvement in community
is determined by the society' s norms and values concerning women' s proper obligations and
roles (Byrne and Laier, 1 996; Desai, 1 996). While women's activities in providing social
services for communities such as in health, education, and housing are frequently considered
culturally acceptable, women often experience severe rejection and opposition from men
when it comes to their involvement in governance in terms of decision-making processes and
political activities.
Local government is frequently pointed out as an entry point for changing the political agenda
to be more gender sensitive (Philips, 1 996; Mauclay, 1 998). The significance of local
government as 'a strategic site for women' s empowerment' is argued by Waylen ( 1 996: 1 3
6) as follows:
As the level of government with the most direct influence on the daily lives of women, local
governments have a critical role to play in bringing about gender equality, and can be a key
motor for change and development . . . Within the responsibilities of most local governments
lie the provision of social and welfare, education, health, and child-care services, all of which
are recognised as being important potential catalysts for improving the living standards and
status of women.
Despite differences in cultural and political systems, analysis based on 15 country reports on
local government in Asia and the Pacific notes slow progress in the achievement of gender
equality in all of these countries (UNESCAP, 1 998). There is clearly a need for the

integration of a gender agenda in local governance (Bhatta and Gonzales I ll ,1998;

UNESCAP, 1 998). In practice, women have generally been unable to secure a strong
presence, or push their gender interests in local government (Byrne and Laier, 1 996 :29-30).
Even with the existence of affirmative action, women in developing countries still experience
difficulties in gaining seats in local government (UNESCAP, 1 998).
Experiences in several developing countries show that through alliances with community
based organizations, NGOs and local government, women have - to some degree - succeeded
in making local governance and policy making more gender sensitive (Mauclay, 1 998;
Budlender, 2000). The inclusion of gender sensitivity as an objective of local government in
Uganda as the result of coalition building and gender dialogue between women and other
stakeholders in governance pioneered by the Uganda Women's Caucus ( Mukiibi, 2000),
provides a case for the effectiveness of synergetic interaction between diverse stakeholders
involved in empowering women. Similarly, a New Dellii meeting on women's political
participation concludes that strengthening networks with other stakeholders in local
governance may contribute to gender equity (Oquist, 2000 : 71-72).
The empowerment of women at the local level cannot be left only to local government or
women working within the local government. As with other state institutions, we cannot
assume that local government institutions are gender neutral. Although they do not publicly
acknowledge gender differences and discrimination, government structures and processes
produce gender inequity as they tend to be more responsive to men's interest (Lahti and Kelly,
1 995; Goetz, 1 997; Scott, 1 999; Taylor, 2000; Bhatta, 200 1 ). Despite differences in
engendering local governance in different countries, women largely remain exc luded from
fully participating in, controlling and benefiting from social, economic and political resources
at the local level on an equal footing with men. Feminist politics frequently po int out that
decentralisation will bring po litics closer to home while at the same time it may help shift the

balance between women and men by providing power and opportunities conducive to
bringing transformation at the local level (Halford, 1 992; Philips, 1 996; Beal, 1 997;
Mauclay, 1 998; Philips, 1 998). This argument suggests that women are more likely to
engage in politics at the local level, or more likely to concern themselves with issues and
decisions that are made in their local environment since they are more relevant to women.
Through their understanding and knowledge of daily neighbourhood affairs, women become
effective agents of change in proposing relevant and useful ideas for solving problems at the
local level (Beal, 1 997). On the other hand, local government-elected offices are assumed to
be more accessible to women due to their locality and part-time characteristic (Beetham, 1
996). Thus, decentralisation as the transfer of power from the central government to local
government may provide more space and opportunities for women to represent their needs
and interests than does central government.

Research Objectives
In the light of the foregoing discussion, the objectives of the study would be as follows:
To identify Pakistan women' s perceptions and aspirations concerning the role of local
government which then will be used to develop criteria as to what constitutes gender-sensitive
local governance.
To identify structural and institutional problems facing local government in engendering
local governance in Pakistan and in building a synergistic partnership with women and
community organizations.
To explore patterns of relationships between women, community organizations and local
government and their diverse strategies in struggling to integrate women's interests and needs
into local governance

 To identify strategies and mechanisms on how to foster an empowering and synergistic

relationship between women, community and local government in engendering local
governance.

Research Questions
Based on the research objectives, the following research questions are formulated:
_ Why is there a need for gender sensitivity in local governance?
_ What constitutes gender sensitivity in local governance?
_ What problems do women and local governments face realizing gender sensitivity in local
governance?
How are women currently organized at local levels and how effective are they in influencing
decision making at the local level?
Under what circumstances and in what ways do women and community organizations
collaborate among themselves to ensure the accountability of local government?
Does decentralization bring local governance closer to women? I f so, how?
How can a synergistic relationship between women, community organizations and local
government be achieved in engendering local governance?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Qualitative research is most suitable for exploring the complexity of power struggles in
engendering local governance in Pakistan since it allows the researcher to gain insights into
participants' views and interactions. qualitative research is suitable in documenting the ways
in which meanings are constructed and negotiated within particular social contexts

(Holdaway, 2000: 1 66). It will then also be beneficial in understanding critical issues in
engendering local governance and in providing explanations for research questions including
the nature of women's participation in local governance.
Techniques
Various techniques which were to be used in conducting the study were as follows :

Secondary data review

Data and information gathered from national and local official documents (policies, reports
and related statistical figures, newspapers, books, journals and research reports) would be
used especially in gathering information on the history, structure and the development of local
government, geographical and population characteristics of the research location, and the
development of policies regarding women's issues in local governance and development
planning.
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
The significance of the FGD as a research tool is that it can allow the researcher to explore,
record and analyze interaction between participants (Oates, 2000:186-187), and to test the
focus of the research, data collection and the analysis for its representativeness and
generalizability (Bernard, 2000:175). Differing from the one to one interview, power relations
between participants and researchers are more equalized in FGDs and participants may have
more control over the discussion. Moreover, in FGDs interactions occur not only but also
among participants, between participants and researcher. In FGDs the dynamics within the
group is useful as the validity of data because in FGD participants through their statements,
questioning of the statements, clarifying and responding, also function in checking and
rechecking each other's information.