TY - JOUR
T1 - Citizens committees and local elites
T2 - Elite capture, captured elites, and absent elites in health facility committees
AU - Falisse, Jean-Benoit
AU - Nkengurutse, Hugues
N1 - Funding was provided by Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid (Grant No. 2011/262-857).
PY - 2021/8/23
Y1 - 2021/8/23
N2 - Mainstream development policies often promote citizens committees to oversee basic social services. Such committees require influence over, and legitimacy among, service providers and citizens to perform their roles, which local elites can help or hinder. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyse the situation in 251 health facility committees in Burundi, part of which benefited from interventions designed to bolster their relationship with local leaders. Interviews and focus groups reveal that leaders’ support is essential for committees to access citizens and work with nurses, but the failure of the interventions show it is hard to nurture. The local socio-political elites (politicians, faith leaders) bypass and ignore the committees. In a ‘fragile’ context such as Burundi’s, the lack of political elite capture attempt suggests a largely vacuous committee system. The committees remain a façade participatory institution. Understanding and engaging with local everyday local politics is crucial for committee-based development approaches.
AB - Mainstream development policies often promote citizens committees to oversee basic social services. Such committees require influence over, and legitimacy among, service providers and citizens to perform their roles, which local elites can help or hinder. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyse the situation in 251 health facility committees in Burundi, part of which benefited from interventions designed to bolster their relationship with local leaders. Interviews and focus groups reveal that leaders’ support is essential for committees to access citizens and work with nurses, but the failure of the interventions show it is hard to nurture. The local socio-political elites (politicians, faith leaders) bypass and ignore the committees. In a ‘fragile’ context such as Burundi’s, the lack of political elite capture attempt suggests a largely vacuous committee system. The committees remain a façade participatory institution. Understanding and engaging with local everyday local politics is crucial for committee-based development approaches.
KW - social accountability
KW - community participation
KW - elite capture
KW - primary health care
KW - fragile- and conflict-affected states
KW - Burundi
UR - https://www.palgrave.com/gb/journal/41287
U2 - 10.1057/s41287-021-00443-8
DO - 10.1057/s41287-021-00443-8
M3 - Article
SN - 0957-8811
JO - European Journal of Development Research
JF - European Journal of Development Research
ER -