Mechanisms to improve citizen participation in government and its administration

Abstract

Citizen participation on any level of government is timeless. The dynamics and the relationships of citizen participation on all levels are unique, due to the fact that many problems and solutions have their roots in the activities of local government and its administration. Furthermore the extension of democracy to all spheres of society and to all tiers of the administrative hierarchy, have been a central theme of the democratisation process in South Africa. The notion of "bringing the government to the people" is important, not only in strengthening civil society, but also in mobilising the population to implement the programmes of reconstruction and development necessary to transform the civil society.