Citizen Engagement and Good Governance

• In Event: Political Engagement in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has accentuated challenges to citizen participation, especially in countries lacking basic infrastructure and technology. Restrictions on mobilisation, public gatherings and the digital divide have hindered citizens’ capacities to participate in policy-making processes. At the same time, the challenge of implementing effective pandemic responses has redrawn the attention on the importance of so-called ‘good governance’, especially in developing countries.
This paper explores the links between citizen engagement and good governance, with an
emphasis on the evidence from developing countries. It defines these concepts and provides an overview of the empirical literature on the impact of citizen engagement on good governance at the local level, as a first step to better inform research and policy reflection on more ambitious, large-scale, global avenues for citizen participation in global policy-making.

Author

• Jacopo Resti, Central European University