Cities, democracy and governance in Latin America

Alfredo Rodriguez and Lucy Winchester

Caracas: social upheavals in February 1989, the Caracazo. Buenos Aires: attacks on supermar- kets and shops in May and June 1989. Santiago del Estero, Argentina: burning of government buildings and houses of politicians and govern- ment officials in December 1993. Curanilahue, Chile: blocking of roads to protest against the closure of coal mines, 1994. Chiapas: occupation of twelve cities in January 1994.

In recent years, the cities of Latin America have witnessed huge dem- onstrations of social discon- tent. Interpreted in terms of governability, these out- breaks may be defined as ‘democratic ungovernabil- ity’. Seen from the angle of ‘governance’, these are conflicts which erupt when the changes taking place in economic and social struc- tures are set against the inertia of traditional polit- ical and social structures. Thus, they are not caused by the failure of the democratic

Changes in the economic, social and political context of the city

Since the late 1970s, the countries of the region have, to varying degrees, been experiencing profound changes in their economic and social structures, as well as in the paradigms of the State and society (Restrepo, 1994, pp. 95-6; Schvarzer, 1994; Tenti, 1993; Infante, 1993).

Alfredo Rodriguez is an architect, town- planner, and Director of SUR, Centro de Estudios Sociales y Educacih (Centre for Social Studies and Education), J . M. Infante 85, Providen- cia, Santiago, Chile. Lucy Winchester is an economist who is also a researcher with SUR. Both authors are working on the themes of urban poverty and public policy, and for the Latin American co- ordination of the Global Urban Research Initiative (GURI) project of the Centre for Urban and Community Studies of the University of Toronto.

system to satisfy excessive demands; govern- ability is not at issue. Rather, they are the consequence of the manner in which cities are governed, and are matters of governance.’

On the basis of the second interpretation, this article sets out to explore the changes taking place in the cities of Latin America and their implications for the process and manner in which they are governed.

The Latin American growth model is going through a process of change, from an inward-looking model, based on industrialization aimed at creating import substitutes, to a model open to international markets, with the private sector as its driving force.

This has not been, and is not now, an easy process. The first changes to take place, and those with the greatest impact in the econ- omic sphere, have occurred

in a society whose structures are grounded in other systems of logic. These changes have come up against the inertia of the State’s political and social organization, the traditional patterns of local political life and the physical structure of the city which was fashioned by forms of production and reproduction different from those which are now taking shape (Schvarzer, 1994; Restrepo, 1994, p. 99; Diaz, 1993). As a result, the effects of the economic changes have taken longer to make themselves felt in society

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74 Alfred0 Rodriguez and Lucy Winchester

as a whole than in the economic sphere proper, thus creating conflicts and fresh subjects of political concern.

The economic, social and political context of cities has changed and is still changing, as a result of the transformation of the world econ- omic system and the transition to democracy in the Latin American countries themselves. These processes under way in the region’s cities will continue to have major implications both for life in the cities and for the capabilities which local decision-makers require, and will require, to ensure future urban development.

The urban labour market

The opening up of their economies and struc- tural adjustments in the countries of the region have had negative repercussions on the urban labour market in the two areas of employment and wages (Infante, 1993, p. 6). Where wages are concerned, Infante (pp. 7-10) points to three major changes in the nature of the prob- lems affecting employment:

- An increase in the supply of urban labour brought about by an increase in the pro- portion of economically active women - partly as a result of the exclusion of men, who traditionally have higher wages - and the continuing migration to urban areas. - A decline in the quality of occupation. The decrease in the demand for labour by the modern sector of the economy is leading to an increase in the number of jobs avail- able in the informal urban sector. Further- more, the decline in employment stability and the increase in subcontracting by large companies have weakened the quality of formal urban employment (Diaz, 1993). - An increase in unemployment and a change in the gender ratio among the unem- ployed. As Herzer (1992, p. 37) points out, for the first time in Buenos Aires the num- ber of unemployed men is greater than that of women. The economic changes have also led to a

decrease in the urban wages of the region, owing to:

- Wage adjustments. According to PRE- ALC (1992), wages in the public sector in the 1990s fell in real terms by 30 per cent,

and the lowest wages by 33 per cent (Infante, 1993, p. 10). - A decrease in real incomes in the infor- mal urban sector. PREALC (1992) states that the real income of persons employed in the informal urban sector fell by as much as 42 per cent during the decade (ibid.,

The most visible result of these changes in the labour market has been the casualization of urban labour, with high rates of unemploy- ment and instability, unregulated working con- ditions, decreasing minimum wages and a high proportion of informal work. This insecurity generates fresh social and economic demands in the local context of cities.

p. 11).

Shift of emphasis from the material to the non-material

The gradual reduction in the number of manu- facturing plants, in their average size and, hence, in employment in the major manufactur- ing companies has brought changes to the employment conditions of cities and even changes to the appearance of the latter. Perhaps one of the strongest causes of this change is the tendency for production to be increasingly geared to the non-material in a variety of ways (Schvarzer, 1994, pp. 6-9):

- the goods produced by industry require fewer raw materials, and may not even require raw materials at all in the traditional sense; - industrial evolution tends to place a higher premium on brain than on brawn. This implies changes in the social structure of urban labour in areas where it predomi- nates; - novel characteristics of manufacturing plants connected with communications and transport systems: they need not be near to a source of raw materials, but to a concentration of qualified workers; - relocation of the headquarters of the major companies from large cities to small ones, or from the centre to the outskirts of the city.

With production being increasingly ‘de- materialized’, traditional labouring sectors and

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physical inputs are becoming less central to the manufacturing process, entailing changes in the characteristics of actors in urban society and the types of training given to the work-force. For the cities, this tendency implies further changes. The new sectors and dynamic activities form a segment of an urban economy which requires support structures for non-material pro- ducts: changes in siting patterns, a job market for a new type of worker and fewer manual workers.

Against the backdrop of these changes, the Latin American city, as the centre and physical context of substitute-based industrialization, is experiencing considerable tension with the dis- appearance of the economic model which gener- ated its growth over the past forty years. The picture is one of inner city areas, old derelict industrial zones, disused railway lines and empty loading platforms: Montevideo, Santiago, Buenos Aires and others.

Nor is it only the physical characteristics of cities which are changing. ‘The tendency towards fewer manufacturing jobs in overall employment, a lower concentration of workers in the major plants, changes in their qualifi- cations and modes of operation, less use of physical materials in favour of intellectual inputs and the relocation of their headquarters’ (Schvarzer, 1994, p. lo), are all factors which show that changes have also taken place in the social characteristics of cities.

Changes in the social context

The changes taking place in the urban economy are reflected in the social order by the fact that the ‘major traditional group actors in society, in particular the bourgeoisie and the working class organized within an economy geared to the domestic market’ (Tenti, 1993, p. 7 3 , have become less important. The changes which have occurred in the employment market and the institutional legal framework governing it have contributed to the destructuring of the world of work. In most cities in the region, trade unions have fewer members, have lost some of their capacity to mobilize and negotiate with employers and the State, and are increasingly less able to take part in collective action for the common good (Tenti, 1993, p. 63).

The position which, little by little, is being vacated by the ‘organized working movement’ tends to be occupied by different local actors who are not necessarily organized in terms of a given productive unit with dominant character- istics of class. They tend to be active in the localized context of the city and form groups based on spatial characteristics (neighbour- hood and regional movements), cultural char- acteristics (ethnic, women’s and environmental movements), and appropriate living conditions (utilities: water, housing, education; social services).

Collective entities are regarded less and less as mere instruments to be used for direct relations with the State in order to resolve conflicts caused by social, political and economic demands. Restrepo (1994, p. 96) points out that, today, ‘companies, associations, parties and trade unions have turned their attention to their structures, routine activities and decision-mak- ing processes, as success in attaining economic, administrative and political objectives depends on these’.

Often, the presence of these is effective only, and then only in relative terms, in the local and concentrated contexts existing within cities, generally at the municipal level. And it is precisely in such contexts that the most welfare- oriented social policies are discussed and determined, and that the latter are the most unstable and linked to immediate political objec- tives (Tenti, 1993), leaving them vulnerable to the peculiar dynamics of local politics in the city.

Changes in the role of the State

‘State reform’ has meant that national govern- ment has been gradually relinquishing its role of direct responsibility for social and national integration. At present, this role is increasingly a consequence of market forces and the action of the mass media. National and class identities tend to be replaced by local identities (of compa- nies, professions, regions, religions, etc.) and particularist identities, or by supranational identities (consumption, adoption of supra- national stereotypes or lifestyles) (Tenti, 1993, p. 76).

Proposals are being made from various angles for civil society to ‘take over’ areas of

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power and freedom previously held by the State. This take-over could take place in three ways (Restrepo, 1994, p. 96):

different social sectors suffer the consequences - in other words, the costs - of such conflicts, they look for solutions, vindication and/or com-

- the return or privatization of property or functions previously under State authority (the privatization of the public domain) (Pirez, 1994, pp. 1-3); - the construction of the public domain; - the enlisting of the participation of citi- zens, communities, trade unions and neigh- bourhoods of differing size and status. The reshaping of the State has begun and

it is being decentralized among many actors and bodies. This transition phase is characterized by the ‘dismantling of the State-run character of a number of services and companies, the new trends in the civil service, the new value attached to a plurality of private actors, the primacy of symbols of the market and its agents as factors determining the allocation of resources in society, and the renewed importance attached to the conception of democracy as a political system’ (Restrepo, 1994, p. 97).*

The public domain

There seems to be a tendency to blame the State for all ills: unemployment, lack of develop- ment and the destruction of the natural world. Conversely, the market seems to hold out sol- utions to these problems. Hinkelammert (1992, p. 191) observes that ‘whereas, in the past, the State assumed a key role in the economic and social development of society, in the 1970s and 1980s the State is identified as being primarily to blame for the major problems which develop’. And, he continues, ‘this fixed idea that the State is responsible for all ills is only the reverse of the opposing fixed idea, according to which the market can solve all problems’.

But the market does not solve all problems. The market produces imbalances. Production produces problems. Production decisions are always influenced by external factors, whether arising within the purview of the State or in the market.

As Heilbroner (1992, p. 89) stated, pro- duction takes place primarily in the private sector and problems - the conflicts generated by external factors - are created there, in the market. But when civil society, individuals and

pensation from the State. The resolution of these conflicts thus depends

on the distribution of power and the way in which it is exercised, as much by the market as by civil society or the State.

The public domain is one where the inter- relations are apparent between political decisions and their consequences for the use of economic and social resources for development. It is there that the actors in the market and the different social sectors of civil society and the State converge and their interdependence comes to light. It is also there that the decision-making process finds solutions to the social, economic and political problems and conflicts generated by production for development.

Decentralization

This is a recent and ongoing process of insti- tutional change in Latin America which is sup- ported both by those who see it as a mechanism for reducing the control of capital by the State and the scale of State intervention generally, and those who see in it the possibility of greater democratization of the State and civil society.

Nunes (1994, p. 185) claims that ‘the decentralization of the State implies a corre- sponding decentralization of conflict, which in practice means that local government has become an arena for conflict and power struggles where citizens are concerned’. Urban social actors, the national and foreign private sector, local government and the State all share the public domain of the city, which comprises both the city’s infrastructure and public services, and the process of making decisions concerning urban development and its attendant conflicts.

This process can entail the strengthening of local identity. But although this has favourable aspects and affords a proximity conducive to participation, it also has limitations and should not be overrated. The legitimacy of this domain - equal access for urban civil society, effective participation and transparency in decision-mak- ing - is a matter for discussion and study. It is a domain which tends to be vulnerable to local political life, and some people see the local sphere as one of resistance to change and

Cities, democracy and governance in Latin America 77

Residential contrasts, Caracas. Besse/Sipa

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78 Alfred0 Rodriguez and Lucy Winchester

reinforcement of the more traditional aspects (Gonzdez, 1994, p. 12).

Faced with these changes, the countries of the region have yet to establish a clear attitude to the local sphere. To a certain extent, as has been stated by VelAsquez, ‘decentralization started the political parties out of their habitual assumptions, and they have had, without prep- aration, to invent a proposal concerning the city, the local sphere and participation’. This is a subject which is of both practical and theoretical interest. There is no democratic theory concern- ing the local sphere, the public domain, etc., which also proposes a blueprint. Nor is there any social or political leadership at the local level which subscribes to it and supports it in a democratic context.

The actors who have probably covered the most ground are the non-governmental organi- zations (NGOs) , especially those which special- ize in this field. ‘Nevertheless, there is a need to construct a proposal concerning the local sphere which can be discussed and shared by very different social and political actors’ (Rodriguez, 1994).

Urban poverty and city poverty

Poverty in the city

In the 1990s in Latin America, poor people - those with incomes below the poverty line - are concentrated in the cities. This is a new and growing phenomenon which has arisen in the last twenty years.

Although there has been a slight increase in percentage terms in the total number of the region’s poor, the urban poor population rose from 29 to 39 per cent between 1970 and 1990, while the rural poor population decreased from 67 to 61 per cent (ECLAC, 1994, p. 157).

At present, the heaviest concentrations of poor people are located in urban areas. In the space of twenty years there has been a practical reversal of the situation: whereas in 1970, 63 per cent of Latin America’s poor people were to be found in rural areas, today 59 per cent of them live in urban areas (Table 1).

In all countries of the region, the effect of the economic crisis since the end of the 1970s,

and of structural adjustment from the 1980s onwards, has been more strongly felt in urban than in rural areas.

The figures in Table 2 show that, with the sole exception of Uruguay, the percentages given for all the other countries of households below the poverty line in the period correspond- ing to the 1990s are greater than those for the 1970s. Recent improvements represent only a partial recovery of indicators reached in the past (ECLAC, 1994, p. 17).

The social situation prevailing in the urban areas is thus more complex: there is both a heavier concentration of the poor and a greater inequality of income distribution. ECLAC (1994, pp. 35-45) points out that this tendency has persisted even in cases where some recovery has taken place, because social sectors with lower incomes have taken a larger share of the labour market in lower paid jobs, whereas the professional and technical sectors have obtained comparatively higher salary increases in real terms.

Poverty of the city

Besides the concentration of poor people in the city, and the increase in wage differentials (linked to job characteristics) of urban inhabi- tants, the city itself has grown poorer in the last two decades (Herzer, 1992).

This impoverishment has led to a reduction in the capacity of cities to provide public services and maintain physical infrastructure on a day- to-day basis and, in extreme cases, to ensure public safety.

City poverty is thus a crisis affecting the provision of collective goods and services which is illustrated by the deterioration of public ser- vices, by a financial crisis and, more particularly, by a very low level of city productivity.

This crisis reflects the fragmentation of the Latin American city as a result of a combination of global and local processes within the context of the city (Sassen, 1991).

Cities on the verge of breakdown continue to function because different social groups - neighbourhood and residents’ organizations, organizations of heads of households, NGOs, mothers’ unions, etc. -perform work that makes good the shortcomings of public services (Pirez, 1994, p. 2). There are cases where users go

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Cities, democracy and governance in Latin America 79 ~~~ ~~ ~

TABLE 1. Latin America: changes in the urbadrural distribution of the poor, 1970-1990

Poor (in thousands)(”) Poor (%) Year Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total

1970 44,200 75,600 119,800 37 63 100 1980 62,900 73,000 135,900 46 54 100 1986 94,400 75,800 170,200 55 45 100 1990(b) 115,500 80,400 195,900 59 41 100

(a) People with incomes below the poverty line. Includes the destitute. Cb) Estimates for nineteen countries of the region. Source: ECLAC (1994), Table 21, p. 157.

TABLE 2. Latin America: percentage of households below the poverty line in urban areas, 1970-1992

Year Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Mexico Peru Uruguay Venezuela

1970 5 35 12 38 15 20 28 10 20 1980 7 30(”) 36 16‘”) 39”) 9W) 1W) 1986 12 34cd) 37(d) 36 21(e, 28(‘) 45 14 25 1990 50(d’ 39 34 35 22 34tn 12 33 1992 46 27 38 25 30 8 32

(a) 1979, Cb) 1981, (=) 1984, Source: ECLAC (1994), Table 22, pp. 158-9.

1987, (e) 1988, (0 1989.

beyond the accomplishment of compensatory or complementary activities, and become inde- pendent. For example, in the city of Santo Domingo, services have been established which provide a certain amount of transport, and electricity by means of individual generators (Douzant and Faxas, 1991); and in Buenos Aires there are co-operatives with independent ser- vices for providing drinking water (Brunstein, 1991; Montaiio and Coing, 1991; Rodriguez, 1991).

The breakdown in urban services has vari- ous effects:

- On the physical and social structure of the city. When public services break down, urban sectors break away from the city and become independent; the city then ceases to function as an organic entity (Pirez, 1994). - On the efficiency of productive urban activities. In the absence of public services - in the literal sense - the urban agglomer- ation loses its meaning, and the competi- tiveness of the activities located in it is restricted. Coing (1989) cites the example

of the difficulties experienced in developing advanced economic activities in cities which cannot provide an electricity service with- out daily power cuts.

The general conclusion to be drawn from the preceding review of the urban situation is not very encouraging: the impoverishment of both inhabitants and the cities themselves. None the less, to borrow the terms used by Reilly (1994, p. l ) , ‘there is one piece of good news: a tendency towards democracy and the (re)discovery of civil society - which exists out- side the family, but without attaining the level of the State’.

How can we govern this new urban scene?

As we stated above, the outbreaks of social unrest which have erupted over the last few years in the cities of the region reflect the new social conflicts and demands stemming from the interdependence and interpenetration of mar- ket, State and civil society. The resolution of

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these conflicts depends on the way in which these actors exercise power or, in other words, on the form and process of governance.

The city, an important sphere in the devel- opment of society, is now witnessing fundamen- tal changes in its political, social and economic structures. It is living through change and much uncertainty. A key feature of this process is the renewed emphasis being given to the local context, as compared with central government and the national context. It is at the local level that problems and conflicts relating to urban poverty and social problems - inequality, the casualization of labour and the impoverishment of the city - find expression, and here that solutions are sought. These problems represent unsatisfied demands and unresolved conflicts which stem from the clash of economic, social and political interests in the urban environment.

Thus, a key condition for the survival of the city is its capacity to reconcile the different demands originating from the market, civil society and the State, and distribute costs and benefits without jeopardizing the stability and steady development of society. We believe it important to consider what strategies for resolv- ing conflict in our cities would be workable, and what their implications should be as regards making regular provision for the demands of the various social sectors.

How are the poor integrated into the city?

In response to this question, Pirez (1994, pp. 4-5) states that it is done in two fundamental ways: either through formal and political inte- gration, in the case of democratic strategies, or through repression and territorial exclusion, in the case of authoritarian Strategies. These stra- tegies concern not only the integration of ‘the poor’, but also social sectors affected by other social problems.

Democratic strategies of government tend to attempt experiments based on some form of integration. This may be connected with political representation, symbolic representation, polit- ical clientele systems andor participation (Pirez, 1994, p. 5).

Cases of effective participation in local government by popular sectors are rare. Exam- ining various experiments in popular partici-

pation in Latin America, Herzer and Pirez (1988, p. 139) identify two necessary conditions for them to take place: the existence of grass- roots organizations which carry some weight at the local level; and the fact that positions of responsibility in local councils are held by parties or individuals favourable to popular partici- p a t i ~ n . ~ They conclude by saying that, of these two conditions, the second carries the more weight: for participation to exist, a favourable attitude towards it must be present in local government. In our view, this conclusion is very important because it shows, in broader terms, that the nature of the relationship between civil society and the State is not one of dichotomy, but rather one of mutual reinforcement. Hinkel- ammert (1992, p. 199) thus declares that State and civil society ‘are directly linked; civil society cannot exist without the existence of a State which accepts and promotes it’.

The identification of two standard modes of integration of the city’s social sectors - demo- cratic and authoritarian - does not imply that only one of them is predominant, or that they do not combine. Pirez (1994), for example, demonstrates that the city, with its economic, social and political processes, shifts between illegality and legality, and between confron- tation and political consensus.

Social policies

As we saw at the outset, structural adjustment policies reduce wages and social benefits and increase unemployment. ‘Nowadays, poverty is quite simply an economic problem. A case of temporary dysfunction’, which must be put right in order to keep the market working properly. As Papad6pulos points out (1994, pp. 23-4), this change strongly affects social policy-making. From the pro-development point of view, social policies used to form part of ‘citizens’ rights’, but are now regarded as an aspect of ‘public spending’ and are linked to the problem of poverty.

When the policy for dealing with poverty consists of making investments which are aimed at poverty relief, the assumption is that poverty can be defined in absolute terms: the poor are a socio-economic stratum definable by objective criteria (income or lack of necessities): this view of the poor is not that of a social category which

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can be defined only in relation to others, for example, the casualization of the labour market for certain social categories compared with others, or the breakdown of basic public services (drinking water, electricity) in some parts of the city and not in others (Martinez, 1994). Thus, the present view of poverty and the social policies designed to cope with it do not take into account the vulnerability of some social sectors as compared to the (in)vulnerability of others. Consequently, they hold no solution to the resulting social conflicts.

A contradiction exists between, on the one hand, the objectives of many of the projects for decentralizing and strengthening the local sphere - formulated as the quest for local ident- ity, or citizenship - and, on the other, the intellectual underpinnings of the present tend- ency of social policies to set aside citizenship - civic rights - and to concern themselves solely with social spending (Papadopulos, 1994, p. 27).

No proposal exists on the meaning of social policies within the framework of democracy. The new social policies for combating poverty tend to call for the participation and organiza- tion of their recipients. But, as previously stated, they fail to take into account the relative situ- ation of ‘the poor’ compared to other social sectors. A democratic blueprint should, to quote Duhau and Schteingart (1994, p. 37), ‘call for and promote, within the framework of citizen- ship, the full exercise of civic rights and parti- cipation in the formulation and shaping of public policies’.

Government of the city

Faced with the question of how to solve the conflicts of social sectors in this new urban context, our initial response is to say that they are the responsibility of the city authorities. Looking at individual Latin American cities, we see very few cases of ‘city government’ - an effective metropolitan g~vernment .~ Yet many see the institution of the city council as a form of city government, with the ability to reconcile and combine the different demands originating from civil society, the market and the State. They thus ascribe a leading role to the city

council in the sustainable development of Latin American cities.

City councils have, indeed, begun to assume greater political importance in the last ten to fifteen years, and will continue to do so in the future. The renewed importance of the council is the result, inter alia, of the democratization processes carried out in the 1980s, State reforms, administrative decentralization and devolution, and the application of compensatory social poli- cies aimed at the relief of poverty.

Nevertheless, the Latin American council has not yet attained a position of strength, and is undergoing a process of institutional change. Although decentralization has strengthened its administrative aspects, the resulting transfer of responsibilities has frequently been accompanied neither by a corresponding trans- fer of real authority nor by access to adequate funding. The democratization process has also meant the beginning of the creation of mechan- isms for political participation and civic and community participation, but the capacity to respond to needs is slight. City councils are, in general, weak institutions which have little economic, political and ideological power, and have limited autonomy, authority, legitimacy and managerial capacity. And, at times, their role in the local political life of the city is not at all clear. The outbreaks of social unrest occurring in various cities are proof of this.

The outlook of governance shows us that city government is not the exclusive affair of the local government institution. Coalitions of different social actors, the private sector, other national and international government bodies and their institutions also influence how the city is governed - sometimes decisively so. The final distribution of the costs and benefits entailed by the resolution of social conflicts depends on the capabilities of these coalitions and insti- tutions to exert their influence and to act in the public sphere of the city.

So how might it be possible to govern so as to cope effectively with the emergent social demands in cities? This is a difficult question, to which there can be no answer which does not include the empowerment of citizens and an accompanying institutional change and con- solidation.

Crucial to this is an understanding of local political life, ensuring that both changes and

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reinforcements take account of the peculiar cul- tural features and modes of operation of local society. To be ignorant of them or to ignore

them is bad governance, and creates problems of governability.

Translated from Spanish

Notes

1. The World Bank (1993, p. 2), defines the term governance as ‘the way in which power is exercised to manage economic and social resources for development’, applying it to the power of governments to define and implement development policies. We would broaden that definition: we consider the exercise of power - governance - not as an attribute of governments alone, but also of civil society and the market. Thus, the way in which the system manages social conflicts and the subsequent distribution of its costs and benefits depend as much on the political regime as on the process of defining and making

decisions, and the capacity to put them into effect. This means that the final distribution of costs and benefits among the actors in the market, State and civil society depends on the form of government and the initial distribution of power among them.

2. Restrepo (1994, p. 96) sees democracy and development ‘as an unfinished, problematic and reversible process involving many entities, and not in terms of variables of quantity and unanimity’. He also states that in this context ‘ground is being gained by the ideology of social covenants, the search for

consensus, the recognition of specific characteristics and, hence, the right to autonomy and participation’.

3. Herzer and Pirez (1988) observe that one notable aspect of almost all experiments in participation is their greater level of involvement with council officials (mayors) than with representative bodies.

4. The Distrito Metropolitan0 of Quito, Ecuador, is a unique example of metropolitan government with well defined responsibilities and authority.

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0 UNESCO 19%.