Multi-Level Perspectives on Anti-Corruption: A Systematic Literature Review
This systematic literature review investigates the extent to which recent anti-corruption literature goes beyond the established paradigms (i.e., principal-agent perspective, macro-level, structural, and legal centralistic approaches) to focus on society’s informal norms, everyday micro-level power relations and non-monetary currencies (e.g. respect, prestige, social status and trust). By reconceptualising the various meanings and morality of informal,non-legal…
Overcoming Barriers to Participate in Local Democracy for People with Disabilities: The Case of Zimbabwe
This policy brief discusses barriers to the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in local democracy in rural Zimbabwe and provides recommendations for enhanced participation. The analysis is part of a broader mixed research study on the inclusion and participation of vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe’s local democracy. Results of the study show how people…
Reporting on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Sweden: VLRs and their implications for local democracy
In 2021, four Swedish municipalities – Helsingborg, Malmö, Stockholm, and Uppsala – published their first Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), a report on the status of local implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). VLRs have become a common instrument for subnational governments to show progress in the achievement…
Toolbox for VLR, Voluntary Local Reviews
This toolbox provides support to local governments that are interested in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), while contributing to local democracy. The stories and practical tips presented allow the reader to gain first-hand knowledge of the VLRs that local governments are developing…
Language rights in local governance, South Africa
This teaching case illustrates the importance of communities to engage the municipality in their own language and the tension and potential exclusion that arises when community members are forced to engage in a mainstream language. On the one hand, the municipal administration, working with limited resources, wants to limit the number of languages used, and…
Reducing the negative effects of climate change: Lessons from the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in Budapest
Author: Daniel Oross In 2020 the City Council of Budapest invited locals to take part in the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in order to develop a climate strategy that matched people’s lives and aspirations. This policy brief provides empirical evidence of how local governments can address the problems of climate change in cooperation with…
Incorporating immigrant voices? Formal access to participatory mechanisms in the city of Barcelona
Democratic innovations to enhance the participation of city-zens in urban settings have advanced in the world in the last decades. Avenues such as citizens’ assemblies, deliberative polls, participatory budgeting, e-petitions and online consultations have become part of the repertoire of participation available to urban residents. However, a pending question is whether local authorities envision specific…
