Popular Participation in Public Policy and Development Processes: The African Experience

Mangue Nnadongo G¹*

1. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The objective of the paper is to stimulate debates on participatory development, particularly by the communities on national budgeting process. The paper identifies elements and methods of popular participation in the process of formulation, implementation and evaluation of national budget as an entry point for community participation in development processes.

The paper is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides an overview and a conceptual framework of selected literature in the topic. Moreover, it presents a succinct conceptual framework of popular participation in development. Section 2 analyses Africa’s efforts in promoting participatory development, whereas section 3 highlights the importance and the necessity to involve communities in the process of preparation, execution and evaluation of national budgets. The paper gives particular emphasis to the national budget because it is the single most important government policy document, reflecting its vision of sustainable development and stating its fiscal, financial and economic objectives and priorities. In addition the national budget performs several central economic and social functions: it allocates resources for the provision of social services and infrastructure, diminishes income and wealth disparities, stabilizes prices, and generates economic growth and employment. Section 4 concludes and presents some recommendations.