Upon independence, the government of Tanzania implemented various restrictive policies aimed at suppressing political organization among citizens. In a seemingly contradictory fashion, they also encouraged greater citizen... [ view full abstract ]
Upon independence, the government of Tanzania implemented various restrictive policies aimed at suppressing political organization among citizens. In a seemingly contradictory fashion, they also encouraged greater citizen participation at the village and local level and through service-driven organizations, recognizing the role civil society organizations play in meeting development objectives. The concept of citizen engagement and participation in governance as being developmentally valuable - specifically when aiming to increase accountability and responsiveness from public officials and improving the delivery and quality of public services – has been widely accepted among development researchers, practitioners, and organizations internationally. Over the last two decades, the political environment in Tanzania has opened up to allow community service organizations to collaborate with government officials on policy formulation, budgeting, and planning – at the local and central level. Therefore, Tanzanian citizens are in a more advantageous position than ever before to embark on the process of political empowerment through civic engagement and political participation. There is a need to understand what the process of citizen empowerment entails in Tanzania, and how that process is shaped by specific social, economic, and political contexts. This research argues that the prospects for increased citizen empowerment, referred to as the ‘Citizen Power’ framework, is made greater through an effective combination of three main concepts: citizen participation, social accountability practices/participatory governance, and good local governance. This research aims to identify the factors which facilitate or inhibit the acquisition of ‘Citizen Power’ in Tanzania. These factors are 1) Political Will, 2) Citizen Will, 3) Socio-economic and Demographic Characteristics, 4) Resources, 5) Institutional Capacity, 6) Administrative and Legal Framework, and 7) Third Party Support. The ‘Citizen Power’ framework was developed through an analysis of the theoretical literature concerning concepts of citizenship, civic engagement and participation, social accountability, participatory democracy, institutional performance, and local governance. In addition, the concepts were contextualized through an analysis of data presented by Afro Barometer in 2014/2015. Sixteen case studies were also selected after a thorough review of empirical literature and were chosen because they provide in-depth information on specific participatory projects and programs in Tanzania and the conditions that caused them to be successful or limited their success. The seven stated factors were identified through the review of the empirical literature. The findings from the review of the empirical literature and 2014/15 data from Afro-barometer revealed that lack of citizen participation, low trust of public officials, lack of political will at various levels of governance, and lack of ‘Citizen Will’ are major constraints to the effectiveness of collaborative initiatives, and therefore citizen empowerment. The research concludes that policies and programs implemented in Tanzania should seek to address the citizen-state relationship and foster positive attitudes towards collaborative governance. This should include the objectives of strengthening social capital, particularly trust, between CSOs and the state. Too little focus has been placed on exploring Citizen Will in empirical studies, and understanding the complexities in citizens’ disinterest and their decisions to disengage, or limit their engagement in local and political matters in Tanzania.
