The Promise of Participation: Expermients in Particpatory Governance in Honduras and Guatemala

Political scientists have long wondered whether civic participation can have spillover effects - that is, whether civic participation in one particular domain of public life can lead to more participation in other areas. This book argues that participation can indeed be generative. New participants in participatory governance initiatives can acquire new skills, apply them to new areas of their lives, and join new organizations, even in very poor regions. The evidence is based on a large survey - among the broadest in its class - of participants in community-managed schools (CMS) in rural Honduras and Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, together with case studies and historical institutional analysis. This study is thus more optimistic about the promise of participation than other studies. While it recognizes that participatory arenas are often constrained by features of program design, local context, and national political problems, this book shows that participation is not a dead-end affair. Participation can breed new and unexpected forms of civicness, even in the most unlikely settings.