Trajectories and political context of grass-roots citizen organizations: The control of corruption in Ecuador

Abstract

This article analyzes grass-roots originated citizen oversight organizations (COO’s). This study engages in a dialogue between the literature on watchdog organizations and on participative institutions. COO’s combine delegation of control over public policy to independent watchdog government agencies with a strong involvement of ordinary citizens. In this text the case is made that the consolidation or weakening of the COO is dependent to a large degree on the ability of their leaders to achieve public recognition. This capability –in turn– depends on the way in which they go about performing in Government positions and on the wider political context. The present article is based on a case study of citizen watchdog organizations, which appeared in Ecuador between 2000 and 2017, as part of social and political efforts to fight corruption in the country. The study examines press releases, reports, interviews and survey data from the following sources: Barómetro de las Américas, Latinobarómetro y Perfiles de Opinión. The scrutinized data provides valuable insights about how the capacity of leaders to achieve public recognition and expedite institutional consolidation is related to the ways in which ordinary citizens gain access to oversight organizations in three different political contexts. The article arrives at the conclusion that facilitating the involvement of grass-roots social organizations helps the consolidation of COO’s, especially in contexts of widespread political fragmentation, while, on the other hand, meritocracy by itself fails to promote recognition, particularly in settings where close and bitter political competition is prevalent.