Localizing development : does participation work?

Over the past decade, the world bank has allocated almost $85 billion to local participatory development. Driving this massive injection of funding has been the underlying belief that involving communities in at least some aspects of project design and implementation creates a closer connection between development aid and its intended beneficiaries. indeed, local participation is proposed as a method to achieve a variety of goals, including sharpening poverty targeting, improving service delivery, expanding livelihood opportunities, and strengthening demand for good governance. in principle, a more engaged citizenry should be able to achieve a higher level of cooperation and make government more accountable. In practice, little is known about how best to foster such engagement. Can participation be induced through the type of large-scale government and donor-funded participatory programs that have become a leitmotif of development policy? It is this question that is at the heart of this policy research report. [authors abstract]