Fragility of Existing Civic Engagement Platforms in National Governance of Zambia Towards Community Development



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Submitted Dec 20, 2022
Published Jan 25, 2023
10.24018/ejpolitics.2023.2.1.58

Abstract viewed = 420 times

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In a democratic nation like Zambia, Civic engagement is expected to improve the well-being of the people in the community. Given the expected outcome of Civic engagement, this study explores the fragility of existing platforms of civic engagement in national governance of Zambia towards community development. The study rids on a case study design to generate evidence on the weaknesses of existing platforms of civic engagement in national governance of Zambia towards community development. Data was generated from a total sample of 23 participants. Key among the findings show that civic engagement platforms are politically inclined and manipulated. Equally, there are inadequate feedback mechanisms. Further, actors are perceived to depend on donor funding for their functionality. The study also established information deficiency about existing platforms of civic engagement among citizens as well as lack of fully fragged budget allocation to support civic engagement and associated with dynamics of government policies. Therefore, this study concludes that the existing platforms of civic engagement are unattractive and as such, they have caused the creation of a dominance version of democracy by the elected civic leaders. Thus, among others, it is recommended that there is need for the Ministry of Justice to reform the laws that impede active civic engagement in national governance of Zambia as active civic engagement may cultivate positive change in the community.

Keywords: civic engagement community governance Zambia

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