How Decentralisation Can Lead to the Improvement of Social Service Delivery — Opportunities and Challenges of Local Government-Citizen Partnerships in the Philippines

The enhanced efficiency and quality of service delivery is one of the expected outcomes of decentralisation reform. Decentralised local government is likely to provide services that meet the needs of local constituencies... [ view full abstract ]

The enhanced efficiency and quality of service delivery is one of the expected outcomes of decentralisation reform. Decentralised local government is likely to provide services that meet the needs of local constituencies better than the national government through various modes of citizen participation in program planning. Co-delivery of services by government and non-governmental entities is another potential means of citizen participation in the provision of local services.

In the development context, however, it has been reported that a real sense of citizen participation in decentralised local governance is hindered by an authoritarian political culture and the lack of capacity of the local constituencies. In addition to financial and technical constraints of local governments, failure to involve citizens in local government service programs is a significant cause of the problems affecting the provision of such services.

Under decentralisation, the Philippines, as a developing country, is facing difficulties in improving service delivery by local government units (LGUs). In particular, the provision of social services, such as health and social welfare, has been less than adequate because these services are not prioritized by local chief executives. Nonetheless, there is also evidence that LGUs have implemented innovative social programs to solve the local problems through cooperating with civil society organisations (CSOs), although micro-level analysis in this field is still limited.

Given this situation, and as a result of empirical case analyses of three local governments in the Philippines, this presentation will examine i) the kinds of CSOs that are cooperating with LGUs in the delivery of social services, ii) the forms of their cooperation and relations with LGUs and iii) the opportunities and challenges of LGU-citizen partnerships in the delivery of social services. The practical implications of decentralised service delivery services and citizen participation will also be discussed.