Voice: Representation and People’s Democracy

Published by ActionAid International, this resource book is for local level civil society practitioners who want to involve more people to make opinions and ideas heard at the local level - in elected local government and other state bodies, in civil society organisations, and in public spaces and media. It is about people’s participation in decision-making and about people’s right to have a 'voice', to be heard and to choose their own representatives. This book discusses how to ensure that democratic 'space' is created in ways that enable real influence for people living in poverty, using established and well-known approaches as well as more recent alternative ways of voicing concerns.
The book contains the following contents:

• Democratising democracy
• Elections, voice, and the elected
• Voice and representation in CSOs
• Collective voice and collective action
• Voice in public space
• Strategies for collective action

This book is part of a series under the common title of Just and Democratic Governance which aim to support the work of civil society activists in their struggle to reduce poverty and fulfil people's rights. (see below for more titles in this series).