The Role of Social Media in Promoting Citizen Participation in Zimbabwe's Urban Local Authorities
Keywords:
Citizen participation, social media, governance, local authorities
Abstract
Social media is now widely used across the globe having the potential to enhance citizen participation in governance processes. Such platforms include Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp amongst others, to be interrogated in this study. The study sought to examine how these social media platforms can be used to enhance citizen participation in Zimbabwe’s urban local authorities using Bulawayo and Harare City Councils as case studies. The two local authorities have a huge footprint on social media. Theoretically, the study was informed by Arnstein’s ladder of participation to explore the use of social media in enhancing citizen participation. The researchers purposively and conveniently selected participants that included the residents, councillors and management. The researchers also reviewed and synthesised comments made on different social media accounts of the two cases. Data were analysed thematically where themes were established to deduce meaning guided by the research questions. Findings show that social media presents a huge potential if embraced to enhance citizen participation for it has a wider audience and also its ability to include young, people which is the larger population, using social media. Challenges associated with the use of social media were also established including the high cost of data in Zimbabwe. Also, these platforms do not go beyond the tokenism stage of the Arnstein ladder of Participation making them less effective. Lastly, recommendations are given on how to strengthen the use of social media in promoting citizen participation.References
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2. Agalo, J., Kinya, H., and Nyamari, A.N., 2018. Effects of Social Media Use in Participatory Budgeting in County Governance: A Case Study of Kisii County, Kenya. 41.89.203.227. [online] Available at: http://41.89.203.227/handle/123456789/2229 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2023].
3. Amichai-Hamburger, Y., 2010. Public participation in Rural Municipalities. Proceedings of the 10th international conference on applied economics contemporary issues in economies: Economics. Doi 10.24136/eep.proc.2019.1.
4. Amitabh Shukla, A., 2018. Positive and Negative Effects of Whatsapp on Teens.[online] Paggu.com. Available at: https://www.paggu.com/getting-into-roots/positive-and-negative-effects-of-whatsapp-on-teens/.
5. Bakir, V. and McStay, A., 2017. Fake News and the Economy of Emotions. Digital Journalism, [online] 6(2), pp.154–175. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1345645.
6. Belle, M., 2015. ‘Citizens’ Engagement on Local Governments’ Facebook Sites. An Empirical Analysis: The Impact of Different Media and Content Types in Western Europe.’ Government Information Quarterly, 32(1), 52–62.
7. Chikerema, A. F., 2013. ‘Citizen Participation and Local Democracy in Zimbabwean Local Government System.’ IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 13(2), 87–90.
8. Goldflank, D., 2015.The Role of Citizen Participation and the Use of Social Media. London: Sage Publishers.
9. Government of Zimbabwe, 2022. Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Chapter 10:27). Harare: Government Printers.
10. Government of Zimbabwe, 2002. Official Secrets Act (Chapter 11:09). Harare: Government Printers.
11. Government of Zimbabwe, 2005. Postal and Telecommunications Act (Chapter 12:05). Harare: Government Printers.
12. Government of Zimbabwe, 2007. Interception of Communications Act (Chapter 11:20). Harare: Government Printers.
13. Government of Zimbabwe, 2008. Criminal Law [Codification and Reform Act (Chapter 9:23)]. Harare: Government Printers.
14. Grillos, T., 2017. Participatory Budgeting and the Poor: Tracing Bias in a Multi-staged Process in Solo, Indonesia. World Development, 96, pp.343–358. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.03.019.
15. Hellström, J., 2010. The Innovative Use of Mobile Applications in East Africa. Sida Review Vol. 12. ISBN: 978-91-586-4129-7, Retrieved June 10, 2022, http://upgraid.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sr2010-12_sida_hellstrom.pdf.
16. Hudson, R., 2020. Practical Considerations for Public Participation in Constitution-Building What, When, How and Why? International IDEA Policy Paper No. 24
17. .Bowers, C.A., 2014. TheFalse Promises of the Digital Revolution: How Computers Transform Education, Work, and International Development in Ways that are Ecologically Unsustainable. Irish Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0791603516632226.
18. Kanyane, M., Mutema E.P. and Zikhali, T., 2020. Social Accountability in Local Government: Lessons from Vuwani (South Africa) and Gweru (Zimbabwe). Wiley. DOI: 10.1002/pa.2581. Accepted: 26 November 2020.
19. Kepios, S., 2022. Global Overview Digital Report. Available on https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-global-overview-report.
20. Khare, T C., 2014. Producing A Citizen’s Guide to the Budget: Why, What and How? An OECD Journal on Budgeting, Volume II, 2010 (2): pp. 266-278.
21. Khurram, S., 2020. Open Budgets: The Political Economy of Transparency, Participation and Accountability. Washington, DC: Brooking Institute Press.
22. Klang, R., 2011. ‘Internet History.’ International Journal of Technoethics, 2(2), pp.45–64. doi:https://doi.org/10.4018/jte.2011040104.
23. Lee, J., 2014. ‘TheCurrent Operation Status of PB and its Policy Agenda.’ Journal of Local Government Studies. 26 (2), 317-342.
24. Maina, A.S., 2018. Awareness and Usage of Social Media: A study of Mass Communication Students of Kano State Polytechnic. International Conference on www.languagesbal.com/chapter/libraries-at-the-crossroads/127830.
25. Mapuva, J., and Mapuva-Muyengwa, L., 2015. ‘Arnstein’s ladder of participation and citizen participation in Zimbabwe.’ International Journal of African and Asians Studies, 11, 1–13.
26. Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 2006. Election Voices Silenced: Media Coverage of Zimbabwe’s 2005 Parliamentary Elections. Harare, Media Monitor.
27. Mukucha, S., 2014. Public Participation in Constitution-Making: A Critical Assessment of the Kenyan Experience. [Master’s Thesis, University of Pretoria: South Africa].
28. Odhiambo, M., 2012. ‘Political Leadership and Corruption in Nigeria since 1960:A Socio-economic Analysis.’ Journal of Nigeria Studies. 1 (2), 1-25.
29. Participatory Budgeting Project, 2018. Transforming our Democracy: 2017 Annual Report. Page 1-12. https://drive.google.com.
30. Participatory Budgeting Unit, 2010. Participatory Budgeting in the UK: A Toolkit (2nd ed). United Kingdom.
31. Ruby, C., 2022. Connecting People through WhatsApp: A Review. Available on https:// www.pangea.ai/ mobile-app-resources/time-to-say-goodbye-the-disadvantages-of-whatsapp/. Accessed 18 February 2023.
32. Schneider, C.J., 2016. Review of Schneider’s Policing and Social Media: Social Control in an Era of New Media. Surveillance and Society. 16. 115-117. 10.24908/ss.v16i1.8613.
33. Stones, V., and Williams, G., 2007. The True Meaning of Twitter. Available on https://fortune.com/2008/08/18/twitter-dorsey-williams-stone/. Accessed 18 February 2023.
34. Taylor, M., 2013. Community Work and the State: The Changing Context of the United Kingdom. In Craig, M., and Mayo, M. Community Empowerment: A Reader in Participation and Development: London: Zed Books.
35. The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya, 2018. Citizen Participation in Public Finance Management of Kenya. Discussion Paper.1-18.
36. Ubacht, J., 2020. Introduction to the Special Issue on Government and Social Media. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 1(2), pp.1–3. doi:https://doi.org/10.1145/3381940.
37. Warren, A.M., Sulaiman, A., and Jaafar, N.I., 2014. Social media effects on fostering online civic engagement and building citizen trust and trust in institutions. Government Information Quarterly, 31(2), pp.291–301. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2013.11.007.
38. Wampler, B., and Touchton, M., 2017. Participatory Budgeting: Adaptation and Transformation. Research Briefing. The Institute of Development Studies. USA. Research Briefing. The Institute of Development Studies. 1-15.
39. World Bank, 2021. Individuals Using the Internet (% of population) | Data. [online] World Bank. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS
Published
2024-05-26
How to Cite
Masimba, J., Rajah, N., Mutema, E., Moyo, T., Mukunyadze, T., Chikerema, F. and Chakunda, V. (2024) “The Role of Social Media in Promoting Citizen Participation in Zimbabwe’s Urban Local Authorities”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 6(1), pp. 46-66. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.6.1.1203.
Section
Articles