International IDEA's Work - Political Participation
Democracy at the Local Level

Democracy at the Local Level - International IDEA's Handbook on Participation, Representation, Conflict Management and Governance was launched at the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) Congress in Río de Janeiro, Brazil 3-6 May 2001. The Handbook provides practical suggestions for designing local governance systems and options for expanding citizen participation and collaborative decision-making.

The Democracy at the Local Level project explores participatory decision-making at municipal and sub-regional levels, focusing on:

• Institutional structures for enhancing citizens' participation in decision-making;
  

• Procedures for enhancing citizens' involvement in decision-making;
  

• Suggestions for practical ways to increase citizens' participation at the democratic government level closest to the people;
  

• Methods of increasing the range of instruments which help manage and process local-level disputes; and
  

• Concrete examples of conflict-resolution processes in action, identifying situations where consensus-based approaches may be possible.

IThe project's primary focus has been to make the content of the Handbook widely available to local democratic actors in the field. To that end, the project worked together with several key partner organizations on developing an education and training programme to enhance local democracy around the world. It includes the development of applied curriculum materials in local democracy and conflict resolution in close co-operation with the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), the UN, and other international organizations.

For further information, contact:

Margot Gould, Assistant Programme Officer
E-mail: m.gould@idea.int

The complete handbook is available online. Click here.

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