SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
SDC Policy
Democratisation,
Decentralisation and
Local Governance
SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
2
SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
Contents

           1 Purpose of this policy                                           5

           2 Significance for the SDC                                         7

               Good governance is key for achieving development outcomes
               and DDLG is a core element                                     7

               Relevant in all contexts but with differentiated priorities    9

               Global governance reform trends require further push           9

               Switzerland is well positioned                                11

           3 Global Development Agenda                                       13

           4 Strategic Principles                                            15

           5 Thematic priorities                                             17

               Overall goal and expected results                             17

               Democratisation                                               18

               Decentralisation                                              21

               Local governance                                              24

           ANNEX 1 Governance Principles and DDLG Definitions                28

           ANNEX 2 International collaborative platforms                     29

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
Awareness raising of the electorate in Mali in view of the presidential elections 2013. © Swiss Cooperation Office Mali

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
1 Purpose of this policy

         The purpose of this policy paper is to define the       The policy paper does not have the ambition to de-
         SDC’s orientation and scope in the area of democ-       fine the overall approach of the SDC in the broader
         ratisation, decentralisation and local govern-          thematic area of governance. Nor does it attempt
         ance (DDLG). It is a normative document for the         to explain the SDC’s approach in mainstreaming
         SDC and will serve as a reference for partner organ-    governance which is a compulsory transversal topic
         isations, but also for relevant departments of the      and will be dealt with in a separate guidance note.
         Federal Administration and the wider development        The policy is in line with Parliament’s bills regarding
         community. It describes the SDC’s underlying devel-     development cooperation with the South and the
         opment vision and positioning in this thematic area.    East and is consistent with major trends in the global
         It explains the principles that guide our work and      development community.
         spells out main thematic priorities and strategic ap-
         proaches. A series of subsequent topic papers will
         provide more in-depth information on selected sub-
         themes in these categories.

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
In Bangladesh, disadvantaged citizens in rural community engaged in planning. © Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation/Jens Engeli

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
2 Significance for the SDC

         Good governance is key                                      ›› Having a voice and participation are intrin-
         for achieving development                                      sic to people’s well-being: Beyond the devel-
                                                                        opment efficiency argument, democratic values
         outcomes and DDLG is a core                                    constitute a normative goal and a rationale of
         element                                                        their own. They stand for a life in dignity and
                                                                        the advancement of fundamental human rights
         The SDC shares the conviction of many other de-                as they are defined in the international human
         velopment partners that development outcomes in                rights treaties, especially in the covenant on civ-
         a country are strongly influenced by the way it is             il and political rights.2 Having a voice and being
         governed, or in other words, the way public affairs            part of public decision-making is a sign of dignity
         are managed and authority is exercised. It there-              and essentially contributes to people’s well-be-
         fore supports countries in making further progress             ing.
         in good governance, which means improving the
         quality of governance processes. Quality is de-             ›› Local governance provides a space condu-
         fined by a set of normative principles guiding                 cive to participatory decision-making: Local-
         the SDC’s work: effectiveness and efficiency,                  ised initiatives are often the origin and playing
         transparency and accountability, participation,                field for active civic engagement. People more
         equality and non-discrimination, and the rule                  easily assemble around issues affecting every-
         of law (see Annex 1). They apply to national as well           day life in their neighbourhood, and for them it
         as subnational levels (i.e. local good governance).            is usually more convenient to interact with local
         Applying a governance lense implies a contextu-                officials. State officials on the other hand are usu-
         alised systemic view of the political system: state            ally more embedded in the “social fabric” of their
         institutions (essentially the executive, legislative, and      communities, especially at the lowest levels. As a
         judiciary) and relevant political actors, including the        consequence they are more immediately exposed
         private sector, their interplay and relations, and po-         to public concerns and more likely to engage in
         litical-administrative processes.                              public dialogue and deliberation.

         DDLG is at the heart of good governance and                 ›› More accessible and responsive state insti-
         includes the following important dimensions:                   tutions (including governments, parliaments
         i) empowered citizens and political actors, func-              and judiciary) at decentralised levels: Decen-
         tioning institutions and processes of democracy at             tralised state institutions can play an essential
         subnational and national levels (e.g. citizen initia-          role in promoting local development and engag-
         tives, civil society organisations, media, parliaments,        ing citizens in improved state-society relations
         judiciary, independent oversight bodies, elections             through stronger participation and partnerships.
         and other spaces of public participation, account-             They are likely to have a better understanding of
         ability mechanisms); ii) adequate and coherent                 local needs because of their proximity to citizens,
         transfer of tasks, responsibilities, resources and de-         and they are able to adjust national development
         cision-making authority to subnational1 state levels;          strategies to the realities of their territories. Cit-
         iii) effective, efficient and democratic government            izens on the other hand can more directly voice
         authorities at subnational levels; iv) inclusive and           their concerns and hold their governments and
         constructive, non-violent interaction between the              other state representatives accountable. From
         state and civil society and within civil society.              a gender perspective this is a convenient entry
                                                                        point, because local institutions and processes
         ›› Democratic governance allows sharing and                    tend to be less formal, closer to many women’s
            control of power: Strong governments are                    lives and more accessible to them.
            important to effectively fulfil their public duties
            and responsibilities. At the same time public con-
            trol and power sharing are essential to ensure a
            certain counter-balance and to reduce the risk of
            power abuse and corruption (concept of checks
            and balances). Only if people can hold their lead-
            ers to account and are protected against arbitrary
            measures are their fundamental human rights
            and freedoms ensured.

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
›› Effective multilevel governance enables                  ›› Weak governance as a barrier to achieving
                               better outreach and anchoring of national                   the global development goals: In the past
                               development policies: Sound national poli-                  decades developing countries across the world
                               cies are a necessary but not sufficient condition           experienced substantial transformation and eco-
                               for development. Without the effective involve-             nomic growth, but these processes stand in stark
                               ment of subnational stakeholders there is a sig-            contrast to trends of growing inequality and per-
                               nificant risk that they will not land on fertile soil.      sistent poverty and violence. The progress of the
                               Decentralisation can essentially help enhance               millennium development goals (MDGs) shows
                               ownership and effectiveness of public adminis-              an enormous variation among countries and is
                               tration throughout different government tiers,              highly uneven for the different goals. Few targets
                               on condition that responsibilities, resources and           have been met at the global level, while sever-
                               decision-making power are balanced and well                 al key MDGs are lagging.3 Governance deficits
                               coordinated. But decentralisation per se does not           have been identified as a critical factor for further
                               necessarily lead to better development outcomes;            acceleration towards these goals. Findings from
                               it must be linked to improving good governance              30 MDG country assessments in 2010 outline
                               at multiple levels.                                         that “without effective and accountable institu-
                                                                                           tions, systems, processes and political will, eco-
                            ›› DDLG provides favourable conditions to pre-                 nomic gains are not automatically translated into
                               vent and overcome situations of fragility                   development outcomes or registered as MDG
                               and conflict: The concept of democratic govern-             achievement.” 4 Governance is clearly seen as the
                               ance allows for non-violent articulation, peaceful          “missing link” between anti-poverty efforts and
                               negotiation and balancing of interests, which can           effective poverty reduction. These findings are
                               prevent violent confrontations and strengthen               particularly relevant for contexts marked by con-
                               states’ and societies’ resilience in times of crisis.       flict and fragility, which continue to lag behind
                               Entry point is often the subnational or communi-            other developing countries in achieving the
                               ty level. Subnational state institutions are at the         MDGs. “According to World Bank projections,
                               frontline of most pressing challenges and they              nearly two-thirds of currently fragile countries
                               are vital in establishing a relationship of trust           will fail to halve poverty by 2015. (…) All these
                               with the population and enhancing state legit-              countries have weak institutions in common or,
                               imacy. In decentralised systems the concept of              in some cases, strong but abusive institutions.5”
                               vertical power-sharing offers space for self-deter-         Finally, these conclusions were reconfirmed at
                               mination at the level of subnational units, which           the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Devel-
                               in turn can strengthen their loyalty and integra-           opment (Rio+20) and taken up by the UN Open
                               tion into the state.                                        Working Group on Sustainable Development
                                                                                           Goals 2030.

Public consultation in Cuba © SDC Cooperation Office Cuba

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
Relevant in all contexts but with                            Global governance reform
differentiated priorities                                    trends require further push
DDLG is at the core of inclusive and sustainable de-         Progress in democratisation: After impressive ac-
velopment and of peacebuilding and state-building.           celeration in the 90s and aspirations for democratic
But contextual parameters differ considerably. This          freedoms during the Arab Spring, trends in recent
certainly requires nuanced analysis and a solid un-          years imply a standstill or backsliding. In 2015, the
derstanding of the political context, which is the key       Freedom House Index for the ninth consecutive year
reference and starting point for all activities. It is es-   recorded “more declines in democracy worldwide
sential to understand the administrative structures          than gains.”7 According to the Democracy Index for
at different government levels, the political institu-       the year 2014 half of the world’s countries can be
tions in place and how these relate to each other.           considered to be democracies of some sort, but the
It is necessary to know who the key political actors         score of “full democracies” is reported to be low at
are and how they interact, how power is negotiated           only 15%, whereas 31% are rated as “flawed de-
and legitimacy is conferred. Visible power structures        mocracies”, (gap between formal and substantive
and formally recognised actors are not necessarily           democracy), 31% are authoritarian and 23% are
the most influential and hence the most important            considered to be “hybrid regimes”.8
to change. We also have to look for hidden forces
(e.g. informal institutions) and invisible powers (e.g.      A positive development is that people worldwide
socialised norms) shaping different actors’ behav-           are increasingly demanding the fulfilment of their
iour. 6 This implies a solid context analysis from dif-      democratic rights, despite all difficulties, contradic-
ferent perspectives, and in particular a citizen-cen-        tions and setbacks. “People want to have a say, hold
tred comprehension.                                          their governments accountable and monitor in real
                                                             time the progress made in their countries.”9 Citizen
The SDC recognises that working in DDLG is inher-            protests demanding accountability from those in
ently political because it influences the power dy-          power and adherence to the rule of law were on the
namics and structures within a society. It is aware          increase globally from 2006-2013.10 And year-long
that it needs to reflect carefully on its own role in        research concluded that participation of citizens can
given systems, its space and legitimacy to address           lead to important change: “Citizens, when organ-
power imbalances and gender inequalities, or to              ised and empowered, can make a difference in the
contribute to changing governance patterns, as well          achievement of development goals, they can make
as the possible negative side effects it can create.         states more democratic and responsive, and they are
The SDC acknowledges that its own principles and             invaluable in making human rights a reality.”11
values are not undisputed and that different coun-
tries take different political and institutional paths.      Progress in decentralisation: Over the last two
Political transformation is subject to long-term en-         decades the significance of subnational govern-
dogenous processes taking place within societies             ments has been growing. Most countries have de-
and driven by political negotiations and struggles           veloped a core set of municipal functions and the
among a multitude of actors.                                 share of spending is increasing. Citizens are more
                                                             and more involved in decision-making processes.
Hence, the SDC does not attempt to promote a                 But serious limitations remain: the often under-
“Swiss” or any other “ultimate model” of demo-               staffed, underpaid, and poorly qualified local ad-
cratic governance, but tries to build upon existing          ministrations, the tendency of central governments
dynamics, improve available structures and facilitate        to impose spending responsibilities on local govern-
inclusive and non-violent debate and decision-mak-           ments without adequately addressing their income
ing. Particularly in situations of violent conflict and      constraints and the often unclear and ambiguous
humanitarian crisis the SDC should pay attention to          assignment of functions at different government
strengthening domestic capacities and institutions           levels.12 Hence, challenges are still huge and decen-
instead of creating parallel systems. It is important        tralisation has not always led to commensurate im-
to address the root causes of conflict, i.e. dysfunc-        provements in service delivery.
tional state institutions, power abuse and exclusion,
and to build trust between state and society – and
within society.

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SDC Policy Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance - Notebook
Women use the desk for decentralized municipal services in Bushat, Albania, © SDC

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Progress in governance: A cross-country compar-                zen participation” was the second highest among
ison between 1996 and 2008 concludes that about                the nine SDC priority themes, slightly behind agri-
one third of countries have experienced substantial            culture and food security.16 DDLG is a sector of its
positive changes in at least one dimension of gov-             own and it is an integral part of many other sector
ernance, even over relatively short periods of time.13         strategies. The SDC has been working in this field
However, improvements in governance in some                    and accumulating proven experience for decades.
countries are often offset by declines in others and
global indices point at several enduring challenges:           The SDC’s mandate: The promotion of democracy
still low levels of government effectiveness (at 18%           and human rights is listed as an important objective
in LICs, 33% in MICs), low levels of voice and ac-             in the Federal Constitution17 and is a major priority
countability (at 23% in LICs, 40% in MICs), still lim-         of Swiss foreign policy. One of the strategic goals in
ited budget information and independent oversight,             the Federal Council’s dispatch on International Co-
and a considerable number of people (53%) who                  operation 2013-2016 reads “support to states un-
believe that corruption has increased.14                       dergoing a transition to democratic market based
                                                               systems”, and among the listed nine priority themes,
The question of positive correlation between                   one is “State reform, local administration and citi-
DDLG reforms and development outcomes: In                      zen participation”.18 The new dispatch (2017-2020)
general, research about positive impact of DDLG                under preparation defines governance as a themat-
reforms on development outcomes is still in its in-            ic priority and transversal theme and confirms the
cipient phase and the evidence base to date is lim-            SDC’s current positioning on DDLG.
ited and inconclusive. Findings support evidence
of positive as well as non-positive effects. It large-         Swiss history and authentic experience: Switzer-
ly depends on the given political, institutional and           land’s approach to DDLG is deeply rooted in its own
socio-economic context and the design and imple-               history, political system and practice. Federalism, the
mentation modalities of support programmes.15                  rule of law and direct democracy are perceived as
                                                               important factors contributing to economic success
                                                               and peaceful management of cultural, religious and
Switzerland is well positioned                                 linguistic diversity. Switzerland has long experience
                                                               in negotiating functional assignments between mul-
DDLG as important priority: DDLG topics are re-                tiple administrative tiers, and the principles of sub-
flected in many country cooperation strategies and             sidiarity and municipal authority are recognised in
programmes. More than 30% of SDC’s overall bilat-              the constitution.19 Democracy is not an abstract ide-
eral budget is spent on governance-related activities          ology but based on Switzerland’s actual experience
of which DDLG represents an important priority.                and belief in democratic values. The concepts of a
In 2014, spending on bilateral cooperation on the              pluralistic society and the protection of minorities
theme “state reform, local administration and citi-            are fundamental beliefs and proven practice.

Traditional Swiss local citizen assembly © Lionel Scheepmans

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Annual Democracy Forum 2015 discussing the Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development © SDC

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3 Global Development Agenda

        Sustainable Development Goals 2030: The High                The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile
        Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda             States: A new approach on the nexus of peace, hu-
        agreed that good governance and effective institu-          man rights and development was reached when the
        tions are central for sustainable growth and poverty        OECD/DAC Ministers in 2007 endorsed the 10 Frag-
        reduction. More effective and inclusive institutions        ile States Principles; and again with the endorsement
        build public trust through transparency and integ-          of the “New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States”
        rity, and allow citizens’ voices to be heard. While         (New Deal) at the OECD High Level Forum on Aid Ef-
        the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) did not             fectiveness in Busan in 2011.23 The New Deal is a key
        include clear targets for good governance, the rule         agreement between fragile and conflict-affected
        of law and inclusion, these have been put on the            states, international development partners and civil
        agenda of the 2030 negotiations. At the same time           society to improve current development policy and
        the international debate on “Fragile States” has            practice in fragile states and situations of conflict. It
        highlighted a need to more explicitly address the re-       is guided by five Peacebuilding and Statebuild-
        duction of violence, conflict and fragility. “Making        ing Goals (PSGs): 1) Legitimate and inclusive poli-
        progress in reducing poverty and supporting human           tics, 2) Security, 3) Justice, 4) Economic foundations,
        development will require targets for substantial de-        5) Revenue and services. DDLG essentially contrib-
        creases in violence, improvements in access to jus-         utes to the achievement of the PSGs, particularly to
        tice and fundamentally stronger institutions.20”            the goals 1–3 and more indirectly to goals 4 and 5.

        Extensive consultations with a large number of civil        With these commitments, support to countries in
        society organisations and negotiations among UN             their efforts to overcome fragility and violent con-
        member states led to the drafting of seventeen Sus-         flict has become a policy priority of international co-
        tainable Development Goals (SDGs). Good Govern-             operation.24 Switzerland currently holds the chair of
        ance, Peace and State building are reflected in goal        the International Network on Conflict and Fragility
        16: “To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for        (INCAF) and is very engaged in promoting the imple-
        sustainable development, provide access to justice          mentation of these commitments. The PSGs are an
        for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive      important building block for the new 2030 Agenda.
        institutions at all levels.”21 DDLG essentially helps im-   The 2030 goals will also be crucial for the realisation
        plement this goal and related targets, namely to de-        of the PSGs, particularly goal 16 on peaceful and
        velop effective, accountable and transparent institu-       inclusive societies, but also the goals on basic social
        tions at all levels and to ensure responsive, inclusive,    services (health, education, water and sanitation),
        participatory and representative decision-making at         on food security, economic growth, employment
        all levels, to substantially reduce corruption, to pro-     and decent work, and on reducing inequality and
        mote the rule of law and to ensure equal access to          achieving gender equality.
        justice for all. But also for goal 17, “to strengthen
        means of implementation”, DDLG is important in              International collaborative platforms: A variety
        view of improving domestic resource mobilisation at         of international platforms, networks or country-led
        subnational levels (Target 17.1: capacity for tax and       initiatives are working to improve governance sys-
        other revenue collection).                                  tems. They are either driven by development part-
                                                                    ners (e.g. OECD DAC GovNet or the Development
        The Aid Effectiveness Agenda: During the 4th                Partners Working Group on Decentralization and
        High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan              Local Governance), or representing local govern-
        (2011), the “Busan Partnership for Effective Devel-         ment associations, (e.g. the United Cities and Local
        opment Cooperation” highlighted the importance              Governments Network), or they are joint govern-
        of promoting human rights, democracy and good               ment-civil society initiatives, e.g. the Open Gov-
        governance as an integral part of all development           ernance Partnership. (For a selective overview see
        efforts.22 And it recognised the critical role of local     Annex 2).
        governments, parliaments and civil society organi-
        sations for improving service delivery and enhanc-
        ing participation, to oversee development processes
        and to anchor the countries’ development agendas
        in broad-based democratic ownership.

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Roma students asking for anti-discrimination legislation in Skopje, Macedonia © SDC/Harald Schenker

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4 Strategic principles

          Political engagement: DDLG interventions are                 Principled but adapted approach: The SDC per-
          highly political because they aim at changing po-            ceives good governance and democratic values as
          litical systems, institutions and processes, and they        essential enablers for sustainable development.
          address the sensitive issue of deep-rooted power             However, the realities of a country’s economy, policy
          structures and relations. Political systems are based        and society, and the level of fragility and conflict re-
          on laws and formal institutions but also on hidden           quire cautious, adjusted and sequenced approach-
          powers exercised by informal leaders or shaped               es. The SDC believes in “best-fit solutions” rather
          by customs, social and cultural norms. The SDC is            than “standard models” and aims to build upon ex-
          committed to consciously engaging in such complex            isting structures and dynamics.
          and sensitive systemic change processes, while tak-
          ing into consideration the associated risks. This too        Engagement with a long-term perspective:
          applies to situations of conflict and violence where         Working on political systems and transformation is
          it is particularly important to find political solutions     never a linear process, but mostly cyclical and some-
          addressing the underlying root causes of exclusion,          times contradictory. It does not allow for quick-fix
          inequality and power abuse.                                  solutions, but requires long-term and sustained en-
                                                                       gagement. Building relationships of trust is essential
          Starting from context: A sound context analysis              and takes time.
          must be the starting point of any intervention to un-
          derstand the complexity of political systems and ac-         Particular consideration for gender equality:
          tors, the prevailing mechanisms of power and exclu-          Given the different stereotypes about women and
          sion, interests and belief systems as well as capacity       men and their roles in the public sphere, DDLG is ex-
          gaps. Each context is different, shaped by the specif-       tremely gender-oriented. Access to public resources
          ic historical and political background and subject to        and services is most often governed by men, and
          different stages of “maturity” in DDLG. Negotiation          responding to needs perceived by men. Managing
          processes between political stakeholders are not the         public affairs is often seen as a men’s issue, and
          same everywhere and vary in time. Consequently,              women’s participation in decision-making every-
          the SDC has invested in the development of a set of          where is far from equal to men’s. In many contexts,
          analytical tools and continues to refine them: polit-        gender roles are perceived as part of “culture” and
          ical economy and power analysis as well as gender            “tradition” that should be preserved in a rapidly
          analysis are a must in every context, conflict analysis      changing world. Women’s equal access to services
          and fragility assessments are compulsory particular-         and resources, decision-making and legal protection
          ly in situations of fragility and conflict, and local gov-   are part of the principle of non-discrimination that
          ernance assessments are strongly recommended to              should govern the behaviour of state institutions at
          capture relevant information at subnational levels.25        central and local level. Women’s full and effective
                                                                       participation and equal opportunities for leadership
          Applying a systemic perspective and linking                  at all levels is also one of the key demands of the
          operations with policy reforms: Working in                   gender goal in the 2030 Agenda and a clear priority
          DDLG implies a systemic approach, which means                for the SDC.
          addressing multiple government levels, state institu-
          tions and non-state actors, and combining assistance         Results orientation: The SDC aims to achieve both
          for regulatory reforms, capacity development and             tangible results for the benefit of the people and in-
          behavioural change. Hence, the SDC tries to iden-            stitutional systemic change. It is aware that change
          tify multiple entry points for working on the system         processes in DDLG are complex; they are influenced
          which are complementary and mutually reinforcing.            by many factors and the way they impact on each
          In view of reaching scale and maximising impact and          other is not always straightforward and easy to cap-
          sustainability, the SDC connects operational “grass-         ture. Instead of measuring and aggregating only iso-
          roots” experience with policy advocacy and policy            lated quantifiable targets it is important to capture
          dialogue. It promotes measures to capitalise on and          a comprehensive picture of occurred change (fields
          share good practice, actively participates in donor          of observation) and to include as well quality dimen-
          coordination and policy dialogue and supports do-            sions and behavioural change processes. Multiple
          mestic advocacy initiatives and platforms.                   perspectives of involved stakeholders will be used
                                                                       in the monitoring and analysis of results to better
                                                                       understand how change happens and what matters
                                                                       for people.

          15
Ambitions should be realistic, and at the same time     with other concerned Federal Departments (name-
                           it is important to achieve some quick results, par-     ly with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs).
                           ticularly in post-conflict settings, where the win-     It engages with an array of competence centres in
                           dow of opportunity for establishing people’s trust      Switzerland and globally. This involves universities,
                           in new political systems is short. To identify some     specialised institutes, representatives of Swiss polit-
                           “low-hanging fruit in governance” can be crucial.26     ical institutions and SDC implementing partners, as
                           While reporting on results, one should pay attention    well as collaborative platforms of the international
                           to qualify achievements against a reference value for   development community. The corresponding SDC
                           appraising the significance of achievements.            thematic network DDLGN has a specific mandate to
                                                                                   contribute to the thematic quality of SDC operations
                           Collaborative approach: To make best use of             and to enhance thematic knowledge and joint learn-
                           synergies and promote coherence, the SDC strives        ing. Currently the network comprises approximately
                           for coordination and collaboration within the Fed-      230 members worldwide, including SDC staff, im-
                           eral Department of Foreign Affairs (namely with the     plementing partners and associated experts.
                           Division of Human Security), within the SDC and

Working Group at DDLGN Face-to-Face Meeting in Mozambique, June 2015 © SDC Network of Democratisation, Decentralisation
and Local Governance (DDLGN)/Benoît Meyer-Bisch

                            16
5 Thematic priorities

         The SDC has developed considerable experience                ii) well-functioning accountability systems and pro-
         in DDLG over the years. Typical entry point is the           cesses are providing for the necessary counterbal-
         subnational level where it assists state institutions in     ance, oversight and sanctioning of abusive practice;
         their democratic transformation and helps to render          iii) governments and parliaments introduce required
         them capable, better resourced and more effective            legal reforms and support strategies; and iv) well-in-
         in fulfilling public duties. This goes together with         formed and empowered citizens voice their con-
         long experience in civil society empowerment and a           cerns and claim for public space for participation,
         strong commitment to promoting citizen initiatives.          engage around issues that matter to them and hold
         The constructive interaction between the state and           their governments and political representatives ac-
         citizens is very important and the SDC places par-           countable. This presumes that all people, including
         ticular emphasis on promoting gender equality and            powerless and disadvantaged groups, are aware of
         the inclusion and empowerment of disadvantaged               their rights, relate to their society and feel confident
         groups, including internally displaced persons and           and responsible enough to engage.
         refugees. During the past years the SDC made sub-
         stantial efforts to better connect field experience          The change hypothesis describes an ideal scenar-
         at subnational levels to the central policy level, and       io and as such it applies in different ways to dif-
         contributed to the design of evidence-based state            ferent contexts. For example in authoritarian or
         reforms.                                                     post-authoritarian systems the objectives typ-
                                                                      ically consist in strengthening effectiveness and
         Currently it is shifting to a more systemic approach         minimum transparency of the still centralised multi-
         and is opening up its perspective to include a wider         level government structures in providing responsive
         range of political actors and state institutions. This       and inclusive public services and at best, in creating
         includes for example parliaments, justice and the            or maintaining certain space for citizen engagement
         role of political parties which are essential drivers        and public consultation. In situations affected by
         or restrainers of reforms. Hierarchical party struc-         violent conflict, expectations should be modest.
         tures and confrontational inter-party relations are a        Typically it is realistic at first to expect improvements
         direct cause of dysfunctionalgovernance. Also the            in trust-building between conflicting parties, inter-
         dimension of informal leaders and power structures           personal relations, and accessibility of basic services
         is gaining importance. Particularly in fragile and con-      (e.g. protection of vulnerable groups, reduction of
         flict settings, informal or extra-legal institutions (e.g.   vulnerabilities), and to maintain institutional con-
         traditional or religious groups) may play strong roles       tinuity instead of institutional improvements. In
         in either competing with or rebuilding trust in polit-       post-conflict settings, building effective state in-
         ical state institutions.                                     stitutions and people’s confidence in them, ensuring
                                                                      the rule of law, equal access to justice and reducing
                                                                      violence is particularly important and certainly ad-
         Overall goal and expected                                    dresses the key dimension of the fragility agenda.
         results                                                      In more advanced systems of decentralisation
                                                                      and democratic governance the aim might be to
         The overall goal in DDLG is to strengthen legal              further refine and consolidate multi-level govern-
         frameworks, state institutions, political actors and         ment arrangements, make better use of existing
         processes that promote peaceful and inclusive de-            space for public debate and participation, or en-
         velopment for all people. Substantial contributions          hance the effectiveness of accountability systems.
         to this overall goal are most likely if (change hy-          But in all contexts the inclusion of vulnerable and
         pothesis): i) subnational governments operating in           disadvantaged groups and improvements in gender
         decentralised political-administrative settings, with        equality remain a challenge which requires targeted
         adequate capacities and resources, perform their             measures.
         public duties more effectively and are ready to apply
         more participatory, inclusive and accountable gov-
         ernance practices (change of behaviour);

         17
Democratisation                                              Again, this requires adapted approaches and a com-
                                                                                           bination of reforms with home-grown ways of pub-
                              Definition: Democracy comes in multiple forms,               lic consultation, debate or reconciliation and, as far
                              and there is no single universally applicable mod-           as possible, working with all relevant actors, includ-
                              el and no end-point in improving democracy. The              ing those who might oppose. And it certainly needs
                              SDC’s approach to democratisation is guided by a             a combination with efforts offering quick gains for
                              set of values, not by standard settings and proce-           better livelihoods. Transparency and accountability
                              dures. In democratic systems the legitimacy of polit-        in the approach, the focus on results and the bias on
                              ical institutions is based on people’s consent, either       partnership and participation enhance the chances
                              by direct vote or through representation. Democratic         of ownership and sustainability. In contexts of con-
                              systems are believed to be less prone to concentrate         flict and violence it is important to understand how
                              power among elites, since decisions require compro-          citizens deal with this situation, how they expe-
                              mise and inclusion, and elections offer the possibili-       rience their citizenship in such contexts, and how
                              ty of change. This is usually backed by constitutional       they confer legitimacy to – or withhold it from – the
                              guarantees for equal rights to vote, the liberty of          various forms of leadership and authority in their en-
                              opinion and free media, equality before the law, the         vironment, and what this all means from a gender
                              separation and control of powers and the principle           perspective.27
                              of the rule of law, which binds state authority to a
                              constitutional framework and legal norms.                    SDC priorities in this area: Following a system-
                                                                                           ic approach, the SDC recognises that successful
                              Some of the challenges: In many SDC partner                  democratisation implies comprehensive support
                              countries, democracies are only emerging and still           to different pillars of democracy (e.g. parliaments,
                              in the making. Frequently they are under immense             media, judiciary) and new ways of engaging with a
                              pressure to quickly meet new expectations and de-            wider range of relevant actors, including for exam-
                              liver a better standard of living. Otherwise the risk is     ple social and political movements, political parties,
                              high that people may lose interest or become sus-            informal and extra-legal leaders, the private sec-
                              ceptible to populism. “Democracy scepticism” is one          tor and trade unions. The SDC is ready to explore
                              of the actual headwords. New forms of “modern                “new terrain”, while being aware that this can be
                              authoritarianism” are another challenge to democ-            challenging and politically sensitive. It is important
                              ratisation, when those in power keep up a façade of          to renew efforts which contribute to more inclu-
                              democracy while in reality weakening competition,            sive political processes and power structures. This
                              closing space for participation and undermining the          is particularly important in contexts of fragility and
                              rule of law. In traditional societies and their predomi-     conflicts. The political empowerment of women and
                              nantly loyalty-based clan structures, democracy is of-       vulnerable groups is imperative.
                              ten questioned as an imposed western system which
                              is opposed to existing cultural norms and values.

Switzerland is supporting the Serbian National Assembly in its oversight function and in its efforts to ensure transparency. © UNDP/Rea Mucovic

                              18
Democratic accountability and oversight: Ac-                in defending the interests of their constituency. In
countability describes the relation between state in-       East and Southern Africa the support to civil socie-
stitutions and people affected by their decisions and       ty oversight is linked to media initiatives and to as-
actions. It is about the obligation of state institutions   sisting parliamentary commissions control function.
with assigned public duties to inform the public, to        Targeted anti-corruption programs for example in
explain and justify their decisions and actions to the      Kosovo, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Tanzania try to ad-
citizens (information, answerability). And it is about      dress corruption from different angles. The SDC will
the right and responsibility of the citizens to access      continue in this direction and expand knowledge
information, get explanations, to check, and to pass        and experience (e.g. on available expertise in com-
judgement on the conduct of those with public re-           bating corruption).
sponsibilities. For this a solid system of checks and
balances needs to be in place, providing space for          Transparent and inclusive elections: The SDC
citizen participation and consultation, an independ-        promotes inclusive and transparent elections and is
ent, pluralistic media, effective parliaments and in-       substantially engaged in election assistance, at na-
dependent oversight bodies. And it needs mecha-             tional and subnational levels. It believes that elec-
nisms for sanctioning misbehaviour (enforceability),        tions are important because they offer the possibil-
e.g. with an independent, impartial and accessible          ity to hold political representatives accountable and
justice system. The SDC promotes a systemic per-            provide a mechanism for redistributing access to
spective to accountability which includes vertical          power. Poorly designed electoral systems however
dimensions of accountability (state institutions            can also sustain the rule of a single party and lead to
being accountable to citizens, private sector) as well      artificial democracies. The SDC is aware of the risk
as horizontal dimensions (inter-state checks and            that elections may stir up violent conflicts and can
balances). It applies to national as well as subnation-     be more divisive than unifying if partisan electoral
al levels, which need to be connected. It is impor-         campaigns are shaped along ethnic, regional or po-
tant to work with multiple actors and institutions          litical lines. Consequently, election assistance must
(balanced support) and to facilitate linkage building       start with careful political risk analysis and strength-
among them, for greater leverage of their claims.           en domestic capacities in preventing and mitigating
Complementary to these efforts, targeted measures           electoral violence. This is particularly important in
to prevent and combat corruption are necessary.28           post-conflict scenarios.

The SDC has gained long experience with vertical            Other internationally agreed principles to which
accountability relations (social accountability) but        the SDC adheres are: i) to view elections not as
is increasingly applying a more systemic approach.          “one-shot events” but engage with a long-term
For example in Macedonia the SDC is supporting              perspective along the whole electoral cycle; ii) to
the oversight function of local parliaments and in-         understand elections as important but not the only
stitutional capacities of the national parliament, in       means for democratic transformation. Electoral as-
combination with establishing forums for public             sistance needs complementary activities and to be
deliberations and strengthening the effectiveness,          connected with other good governance or democ-
outreach and credibility of civil society organisations     ratisation programmes; iii) to strengthen domestic

Woman as election official, man voting in Kabul, Afghanistan © SDC/Susanne Schmeidl

19
ownership and capacities; iv) to diversify collab-        For example in Bolivia, the SDC has been contribut-
                             oration modalities in order to minimize risks.29 In       ing since 1996 to the implementation of the “law
                             keeping with these principles, SDC support typically      on popular participation,” by informing people
                             includes: assistance to domestic election bodies for      (particularly women, minorities, youth) about their
                             preparing and holding elections, help to domestic         entitlements and responsibilities and by strength-
                             civil society organisations for independent election      ening their organisational capacities and inclusive
                             observation and monitoring, support to media for          participation in public decision-making. With small
                             impartial information and hate-free reporting, or di-     competitive grants it supports initiatives for an ac-
                             verse initiatives for civic education, public debates,    tive citizenry, for example a powerful campaign for
                             and the promotion of women’s participation in elec-       combating violence against women. In the Western
                             tions.                                                    Balkans, the SDC has been supporting civil society
                                                                                       organisations since the 90s in defending the inter-
                             For example in Myanmar the SDC supported the              ests of their members, from the local level up to the
                             electoral commission in organising the elections and      national level. The SDC learned that it has to invest
                             civil society organisations in civic education, preven-   more in strengthening the sincere ownership (legiti-
                             tion of electoral violence and election observation.      macy) of these organisations and the connectivity to
                             As a complement to that, the HSD facilitated a pro-       their members. In future the SDC wants to identify
                             cess between political parties to sign a joint code       innovative ways of better reaching out to genuine
                             of conduct for the election period. Myanmar is a          and inclusive forms of civic engagement.
                             good example of a collaborative Swiss approach to
                             assisting a country in a decisive moment of political     An independent, pluralistic media: The media
                             transformation. In the future the SDC will continue       play an important intermediary role in the develop-
                             this engagement and further exchange gained ex-           ment of a democratic society. They are a vector of
                             perience. It will develop its knowledge of how to         information and an agent in their own right. The
                             improve electoral systems that allow for more bal-        SDC supports the media in fulfilling the following
                             anced and inclusive representation.                       core functions: disseminating information on rele-
                                                                                       vant topics that enables people to form opinions,
                             Effective citizen participation: The SDC supports         giving a voice to different parts of society, providing
                             citizens to claim and use spaces for participation        a forum for exchange of diverse views, fulfilling a
                             and to take ownership of and co-responsibility for        watchdog function by observing political processes,
                             public matters. The aim is that better informed and       and providing channels to political actors to commu-
                             organised citizens voice their interests, hold govern-    nicate and interact with the people.30
                             ments accountable, influence policy agendas and
                             decision-making for their good. The SDC recognises        In Tunisia for example, since 2011 the SDC has been
                             that this usually requires time and many intermedi-       supporting the work of radio Gafsa, one of five re-
                             ary steps, as well as targeted measures to empower        gional branches of the national “Radio Tunisienne”.
                             women and marginalised groups. Blueprint partic-          The aim is to improve access to good-quality infor-
                             ipatory designs with standard project implementa-         mation for the inhabitants of the neglected Gafsa
                             tion modalities are usually less successful and leave     region, where the uprising against former president
                             the door open to elite capture.                           Ben Ali had its origins. The SDC helps with train-
                                                                                       ing for regional journalists and design of new pro-
                                                                                       grammes which provide more independent and
                                                                                       relevant information. Another example is Tanzania
                                                                                       where the SDC is connecting media assistance to
Campaign to stop violence against women in Bolivia © SDC Cooperation Office Bolivia
                                                                                       social accountability initiatives and helped establish-
                                                                                       ing a strong media umbrella organisation for policy
                                                                                       advocacy and capacity building of its members. In
                                                                                       the near future the SDC will prepare an overview
                                                                                       and analysis of its experience in media assistance in
                                                                                       order to facilitate cross-learning and cross-fertilisa-
                                                                                       tion. The potential of electronic communication and
                                                                                       social media is yet to be explored.

                                                                                       Representative and effective parliaments: In
                                                                                       parliamentary assistance the SDC aims to improve
                                                                                       the performance of parliamentarians in assuming
                                                                                       their core functions, i.e. lawmaking, representa-
                                                                                       tion and oversight, and to strengthen the institu-
                                                                                       tions of Parliament, for example the Secretariat, or
                                                                                       Presidency, or parliamentary services. To this end it
                                                                                       offers support in the following areas: improving the
                                                                                       knowledge base of parliamentarians on key aspects

                             20
of the domestic development agenda (training,             about legal rights and the provision of legal aid.
coaching, documentation), assisting them in policy
analysis, in drafting legislation and launching inves-    For example in Tajikistan, the SDC supports a com-
tigations, enhancing outreach and communication           prehensive access to justice programme to increase
with their constituency, and facilitating constructive    legal awareness and improve legal aid services for
dialogue and collaboration between different polit-       people, including marginalised groups and women,
ical parties.                                             to improve legal information by the government,
                                                          and to promote policy reforms. In Pakistan the SDC
In Serbia, for example, the SDC supports the nation-      is engaged in improving the dysfunctional justice
al parliamentarians to better assume their financial      system in the Malakand division in the Provincially
oversight responsibility and to engage in dialogue        Administered Tribal Areas, which was one of the
with their constituencies at subnational levels. In       root causes of violent conflict between militants and
Mongolia the SDC assists a national capacity-build-       the Pakistani security forces. It helps improve skills
ing programme for newly elected local councillors,        and performance of courts and access to justice
and in Southern Africa the SDC will help strengthen       particularly for vulnerable groups (mobile courts). At
the accountability of parliamentary committees in         the same time it promotes informal mechanisms for
selected public sectors. In Macedonia and Cambo-          alternative dispute resolution. In this area the SDC
dia the SDC supports the establishment of parlia-         intends to sharpen its strategic orientation and pos-
mentary institutes which will provide the necessary       sibly expand its engagement.
support base for parliamentarians. Parliament assis-
tance is still a relatively new but growing work area     Independent oversight bodies: In many coun-
for the SDC, and in the coming years it will continue     tries these institutions play an important role for
to expand its knowledge and experience. Confron-          professional and independent public oversight. They
tational and obstructive party politics is one of the     can provide for complaints and redress mechanisms
key challenges and risks to think about.                  for people who are affected by officials’ wrongdo-
                                                          ings, and they can play an important role in advising
Independent, impartial and accessible justice:            on and initiating legal or policy reform processes.
A functioning judicial system is important to sanc-       They can be instrumental in enhancing participation
tion abusive practices of state authorities, to protect   as well as trust by the people in state institutions.
peoples’ rights and combat gender-based violence.
At the core of the SDC’s commitment are people’s          The SDC is supporting different types of institutions,
legal empowerment and the improvement of legal            for example independent national human rights
services (e.g. judicial procedures), accessible to all.   commissions (Afghanistan, Bangladesh) or anti-cor-
Typically SDC programmes support capacity-build-          ruption commissions (Bhutan) and ombudsperson
ing of judges, notaries and lawyers, but they can         (Bolivia, Burundi). This shall be continued and con-
also include work with informal justice providers, for    nected more strategically to other types of oversight
example traditional authorities. And crucially, the       institutions and accountability relations.
SDC supports initiatives raising people’s awareness

Decentralisation
 Definition: The SDC’s approach is guided by international standards and good practice.31 It distinguishes
 three dimensions of decentralisation with different characteristics and policy implications:32

 Political                    Transfer of political power and decision‐making authority to subnational
 Decentralisation             levels, such as for example elected village councils, district or provincial
                              councils (Allowing for democratic structures at subnational levels).
 Fiscal                       Intergovernmental fiscal transfers to subnational governments which allow
 Decentralisation             them to function properly. The fiscal decentralisation policy also addresses
                              such issues as revenue assignments (assignment of local taxes and revenue‐
                              sharing), subnational government borrowing and debt, and the assignment
                              of expenditure responsibilities.
 Administrative               Transfer of decision-making authority, resources and responsibilities for the
 Decentralisation             delivery of selected public services from the central government to other
                              lower levels of government. The strongest form is devolution, with local
                              governments having full responsibility for financial and human resources
                              and for carrying out tasks. Deconcentration is the transfer of authority and
                              responsibility from one level of central government to another, with the local
                              unit accountable to the central government ministry or agency. Delegation
                              is the redistribution of decision competencies and operational responsibility
                              to authorities which maintain a certain degree of independence from the
                              central government and yet have to report to it.

21
Assignment of responsibilities, finances and deci-        In contexts of conflict or post-conflict, decentralisa-
sion-making power can follow different types of           tion can provide a mechanism of power sharing that
logic, for example the subsidiarity principle (alloca-    may help to ease tensions. Sensitive decisions that
tion to the lowest possible government level, closest     are important for regional or local identity can be
to the people), or the principle of economies of scale    left to the lower levels of government so that they
(to government levels which can perform assigned          will not divide at the centre. When communities can
duties in the most effective and cost-efficient way),     take important decisions on their own, without ma-
among others.                                             jor interference by the centre, this can strengthen
                                                          their loyalty and integration into the state that pro-
An alternative concept of decentralised government        vides this degree of self-rule. But the SDC is aware
which is sometimes put on the reform agenda is            that this can also produce negative connotations of
federalism. It describes a system of government in        state dissolution – justified or not. Decentralisation
which powers are divided between a central gov-           is a competitive process, which in certain contexts
erning authority and constituent political units with     might lead to further conflict as stakeholders en-
substantial autonomy (at least two tiers of govern-       deavour to access a share of public resources. Me-
ment). The central governing authority has certain        diation and appropriate institutional arrangements
exclusive federal powers, the constituent political       can mitigate such risks, alongside efforts to clearly
units have certain rights, and they both share cer-       define responsibilities and act transparently.
tain concurrent powers. In federations the right to
self-government of the political units is constitu-       SDC priorities in this area: The SDC promotes a
tionally entrenched. They often possess their own         comprehensive and coherent approach to de-
constitutions which they may amend as they see            centralisation reforms where assigned functions at
fit. Movements associated with the establishment          subnational levels ideally are in congruence with
or development of federations can exhibit either          allocation of finances, human resources and deci-
centralising trends (formation of a stronger central      sion-making power. This requires a clear vision of
government, as was the case in Switzerland), or           multilevel governance systems with shared
decentralising trends (transfer of power from cen-        functions between different tiers according to dif-
tral authorities to local units, as for example in SDC    ferent subfunctions. Horizontal cooperation among
partner countries). There are many different federal      subnational units is also important, for example in
experiences and various design options may apply.         managing natural resources or infrastructure de-
Most important is the identification of solutions         velopment. The SDC supports partner countries in
adapted to the specific context. Often critical is the    making informed choices for different dimensions
delimitation of federal units, for example when the       and forms of decentralisation. It aims to strength-
autonomy of ethnic minorities is at stake.                en domestic capacities for designing, implement-
                                                          ing and adjusting reforms and uses “bottom-up
Some of the challenges: In many SDC partner               lessons” from its numerous local governance pro-
countries decentralisation is a mix of devolution and     grammes to inform reform processes. Particularly in
autonomy at some levels plus de-concentration or          the area of fiscal decentralisation it has expanded its
even strong centralisation at others. And sometimes,      knowledge and engagement, and it will continue to
for example in Bolivia, a legally acknowledged and        do so, because it is critical to strengthening subna-
defined parallel system exists for indigenous auton-      tional governance.
omy with different rights. This is an indication of the
complexity of reform challenges and the inconsisten-      Domestic capacities and initiative for design-
cy of decentralisation processes. The development of      ing and implementing decentralisation re-
functional spaces or economic areas at subnational        forms: The SDC provides access to information and
levels (also termed as regional development) can pro-     technical advice, training and coaching to central
vide an entry point to promote better articulation be-    government representatives to design, steer and su-
tween co-existing forms of government.                    pervise policies, regulations and minimal implemen-
                                                          tation standards. It further contributes to strength-
Other challenges are the dichotomy between nation-        ening national training systems with the aim of
al macro-economic stability and fiscal decentralisa-      enhancing implementation capacities of subnational
tion, and to build linkages between decentralisation      governments.
and other sector policies. Interference of politics is
in many cases one of the main obstacles undermin-         In Mongolia and Bangladesh for example, the SDC
ing de facto power-sharing. Ruling elites fear losing     supports the design of decentralisation reforms with
control and privileges; ruling parties often perceive     analytical studies and by testing and adjusting new
subnational governments as being subjected to their       modalities on the ground. In Bangladesh it also es-
party control and prefer to have them dependent on        sentially contributed to the development of a na-
them. Sound analysis, sequenced approaches with           tional training system for subnational governments,
a longer-term vision, flexibility to identify emerging    based on a bottom-up horizontal peer learning ap-
opportunities and to be well versed with power dy-        proach which is complementary to the top-down
namics increases the prospects of success.                courses of the national institute for local govern-

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