CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION AT THE GR(14)

2.7.4 Local organizational capacity
Local organizational capacity refers to the ability of people to work together, organize and mobilize resources to solve problems of common interest. Often outside the reach of formal systems, poor people turn to each other for support and strength to solve their everyday problems. Poor people's organizations are often informal, as in the case of a group of women who lend each other money or rice. They may also be formal, with or without legal registration, as in the case of farmers' groups or neighbourhood groups.  The assumption here is that organized communities are more likely to have their voices heard and their demands met than unorganized communities. It is only when groups connect with each other across communities and form networks or associations (federations) that they begin to influence government decision-making and gain collective bargaining power.

 2.8 The Resources- Agency- Outcomes model 
 Kabeer[ Researcher and women empowerment analyst from the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, United Kingdom]  views empowerment from the perspective of ‘power’. She argues that one of the approaches through which power can be conceptualized is in terms of “the ability to make choices” (Kabeer, 2001:18). Analogously, disempowerment can be conceptualized in terms of ‘choice denial’. In this view, denying people the opportunity to make their own choices amounts to disempowerment. Empowerment is thus an attempt to enhance poor people’s freedom of choice and action by removing formal and informal institutional barriers[  Formal institutions include: state, markets, civil society and international agencies whereas the informal ones include: norms of social exclusion, exploitative relations and corruption.] that inhibit them from taking action towards improving their wellbeing both本站提供代写Essay，代写Assignment，请联系QQ：949925041 individually and collectively (World Bank, 2002). By carefully examining the logic of Kabeer’s argument, I consider empowerment and disempowerment as coexisting constructs, and that whenever there are empowerment efforts, there must have been a perceived state of disempowerment that necessitated launching of the empowerment interventions.  

With regard to enhancing one’s freedom of choice, there must be options. That is, their ability to have chosen otherwise. It is from this fact poverty is often associated with disempowerment because in such a situation, one may have no alternatives for making choice. This is so because in a situation where people have insufficient means to meet their fundamental needs, their ability to exercise meaningful choice is automatically ruled out. It is also important to note that choices are not equally relevant to the definition of power. Some choices are more important than others. These are the ones referred to as “strategic life choices[Strategic choices are critical for the people to live the life they want. They include for example, choice of livelihood, where to live, whether to marry, who to marry, whether to have children, how many children to have, freedom of movement, and choice of friends... They are also referred to as ‘the first order choices.’ ]” which help to frame other, “less consequential choices”[ Also called  ‘second-order choices’] which may be important for the quality of one’s life but do not constitute its defining parameters (Kabeer,2001:19). The model takes into account the role of three inter-related dimensions which facilitate choice:   Resources, Agency and Achievements.