Local Governance and Community Development Initiatives : Contributions for Community Development Programs in Timor-Leste
What happens when the state's vision and expanding reach bring it into contact with traditional value systems and governance structures? In what circumstances can the distribution of resources in a fragile society prevent-or exacerbate-conflic...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/706801468305087321/Local-governance-and-community-development-initiatives-contributions-for-community-development-programs-in-Timor-Leste http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27255 |
| Summary: | What happens when the state's
vision and expanding reach bring it into contact with
traditional value systems and governance structures? In what
circumstances can the distribution of resources in a fragile
society prevent-or exacerbate-conflict within and between
communities? How do state expansion and public spending
impact upon societal expectations of the state and state
legitimacy? This report examines these questions through the
lens of access, claiming, and decision making in
government-sponsored community development programs. The
findings illustrate the hurdles faced by government and
development actors operating in pluralistic societies, and
provide input on how local governance and decision making
might be incorporated to enrich programming. This report
aims to provide the government of Timor-Leste, particularly
those responsible for decentralization, community
development, and local governance planning, with information
to inform their determination of an appropriate mix of
models for local development. The relative priority the
government will ultimately give to these different models,
partly a trade-off between speed and depth, will impact on
the way in which development and local governance are
understood and taken on board by rural communities. This
report finds that the achievement of the dual goals of state
legitimacy and sustainable, effective local development
hinges in large part on the willingness of state officials
(and the donors that support them) to engage productively
with communities and locally legitimate customary systems of authority. |
|---|