Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship

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Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE AssOCIATION n TasK FORCE REPORT, APRIL 2012 Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship Report of the Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship Report of the Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World APRIL 2012 AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE AssOCIATION 1527 New Hampshire Avenue NW Washington, DC 20036-1206 Copyright © 2012 by the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-878147-38-7 Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World Acknowledgements The Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World was convened by Carole Pateman as President of the American Political Science Association. We gratefully acknowledge support from the APSA and the University of Pittsburgh. We also wish to acknowledge the contributions of Stephen Ndegwa and Peter Uvin to our deliberations. Finally, we wish to thank Rob Hauck, Polly Karpowicz, Karen Lautanen, Nita Rudra, Alberta Sbragia, Timothy Thompson, Karl Widerquist, and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) for their efforts in support of our work. The opinions expressed in the report are solely those of the Task Force speaking col- lectively. No opinions, statements of fact, or conclusions in the report should be attributed to the American Political Science Association, the University of Pittsburgh, or any individual Task Force member. Michael Goodhart Task Force Chair Task Force Members Michael Goodhart, University of Pittsburgh, Chair Archon Fung, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Varun Gauri, World Bank Siri Gloppen, University of Bergen (Norway) Louise Haagh, University of York (UK) Patrick Heller, Brown University Carole Pateman, University of California, Los Angeles, Ex Officio, 2010-11 APSA President Enrique Peruzzotti, University Torcuato Di Tella (Argentina) Anja Rudiger, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (New York) Hans Peter Schmitz, Maxwell School of Syracuse University Guy Standing, University of Bath (UK) Brian Wampler, Boise State University Susanna Wing, Haverford College ii APSA • Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship Preparation of the Report This report is a joint effort of the members of the Task Force. Michael Goodhart, as Task Force chair, served as coordinator and lead author. The report draws heavily from and expands on the background papers written by Task Force members for a conference held in Pittsburgh in April 2011. We have decided not to cite those papers in this text, as doing so would have been cumbersome. Readers interested in knowing more about particular concepts or data in this report should consult the Task Force website or contact the Chair at [email protected]. Additional information on the background papers, including publication information, is also available on the Task Force website. Background Papers A Preface to Pragmatic Democracy: Toward Continuous Innovation in Governance, Archon Fung, (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) Rights-Based Approaches to Development: Concepts, Evidence, and Policy, Varun Gauri (World Bank) and Siri Gloppen (CMI/University of Bergen) Democracy, Public Finance and Property Rights in Stability, Louise Haagh (University of York) Participation, Democracy and Development: Some Comparative Lessons from Brazil, India and South Africa, Patrick Heller (Brown University) Beyond Polyarchy? Debates on Participatory Governance in Latin America, Enrique Peruzzotti (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella – CONICET) Rights-Based Approaches in Practice: Local Mobilization and Evidence-Based Advocacy, Hans Peter Schmitz (Syracuse University) The Precariat: From Denizens to Citizens?, Guy Standing (University of Bath) Transforming Representation and Enhancing Social Justice through Participatory Governance, Brian Wampler (Boise State University) Rights-Based Development Approaches and Legal Reform in Africa, Susanna D. Wing (Haverford College) Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................. ii ECONOMIC CITIZENSHIP ........................... 51 TASK FORCE MEMBERS ................................ ii Dimensions of Economic Citizenship ............................................. 51 PREPARATION OF THE REPORT ................iii Economic Citizenship in More EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................1 Developed Countries ........................... 54 INTRODUCTION ................................................6 Economic Citizenship in Less Developed Countries ........................... 55 A Volatile World .......................................6 Mechanisms of Economic Aims and Scope ........................................7 Citizenship ............................................. 57 Structure of the Report ....................... 10 Conclusions ............................................ 70 HUMAN RIGHTS–BASED APPROACHES ................................................... 11 FROM INNOVATIONS TO IMPERATIVES: DEMOCRACY IN A Introduction .......................................... 11 VOLATILE WORLD ......................................... 71 An Analytic Framework ...................... 13 Connections ........................................... 71 Implementation and Broadening Political Science ..............74 Effectiveness .......................................... 27 ENDNOTES ...................................................... 78 Conclusions .............................................31 PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE ................ 33 Introduction .......................................... 33 Deepening Democracy ........................ 36 A Pragmatic Approach to Participatory Governance ................... 42 Institutional Architecture for Participatory Governance ................... 44 Participatory Governance and Social Justice .......................................... 47 Conclusions ............................................ 50 iv APSA • Democratic Imperatives: Innovations in Rights, Participation, and Economic Citizenship Executive Summary This report seizes the present moment of social, economic, and political crisis to question and challenge some of the dominant narratives that shape current thinking about politics. Specifically, it focuses on promising democratic innovations in three arenas: n human rights–based approaches to democratization, welfare, and development; n participatory governance; and n economic citizenship. We focus on developments in these fields to stress their shared objectives. Together, they offer a robust and compelling account of democracy. There is significant normative and conceptual overlap among these three areas of innovation, and significant potential for them to be mutually supportive and enhancing. n Human rights–based approaches conceive of rights as tools for achieving important goals of development, welfare, and democratization and as important democratic aims in themselves. Such approaches seek to secure a just infrastructure for democracy. n Participatory governance is a process through which rights are exercised and citizenship and political agency enacted. It can help bring traditionally marginalized groups into politics and can enhance accountability, responsiveness, and social justice. Participation is a vital element of rights-based approaches, and rights facilitate political participation. n Economic citizenship refers to the substantive aim of making economic security and social justice entitlements of democratic citizenship. It is, in a sense, the objective of human rights–based approaches, and it, in turn, enables meaningful political agency. One of our key findings is that innovations in these three fields share crucial objectives in common: n deepening democracy; n enhancing collective and individual agency; n reducing poverty; n achieving greater equality of wealth, power, respect, legal status, or opportunity; and n cultivating solidarity in democratic communities. We view these as imperatives for revitalizing democracy in a volatile world, and the innovations we highlight throughout have been selected to illustrate how this revitalization might take place. Task Force on Democracy, Economic Security, and Social Justice in a Volatile World 1 Human rights–based approaches (HRBA) are a family of approaches for achieving human welfare and promoting human development and democratization through the realization of human rights. Some of the distinctive features of these approaches are: n a shared normative and conceptual anchor in human rights and a commitment to human rights principles in the development process; and n a distinctive analysis and critique of power that focuses on the underlying causes of poverty, inequality, and disenfranchisement. HRBA are utilized—and have proven effective—in developing and developed countries and in old and new democracies. We propose a comprehensive analytic framework for understanding HRBA that highlights four main approaches: n global compliance and accountability, n programs and policies, n discourse, and n constitutional litigation and mobilization. We specify the various targets, drivers, goals, and strategies connected to these approaches, illustrating them with
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