Power Dynamics and Agency in the Policy Space: How Coordinated Actions by Power-conscious Citizens Shape Policy Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Abstract

It has become commonplace for states throughout Africa, as it is elsewhere, to work with CSOs on several projects in various policy sectors. This engagement of the state with CSOs is referred to as participatory governance. The works of academics and scholars on participation frequently focused on, inter alia, power, policy, agency, organization, and benefits, with a view to highlight the connections between these factors. To contribute to examine participation in policy making by CSOs in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper asks the following question. Power dynamics and agency in the policy space: How coordinated actions by power-conscious citizens shape policy participation in Sub-Saharan Africa? While acknowledging the influence of a host of factors on participatory policy making in Sub-Saharan Africa, our paper focuses on the relationships between power dynamics and agency in the policy space by CSOs, with a view to highlight the way their interplay may shape access to policy making for citizens.  Using a documentary analysis, the paper extracts and aggregates relevant data, and then analyzes them. CSOs, the paper came up with, use coalition formation by networking with others to put pressure on state, use familiarity with policy cycle to navigate their way through the policy making process, and resort to expertise in the policy sector to make contributions.