Author(s): Evans Lyndon BAINES-JOHNSON, Ä°lhan BÄ°LÄ°CÄ°
This paper is a discussion of the different ways in which participation is incorporated into development projects and the various levels of participation and their merits and demerits. The paper further discusses the bottom-up versus the top-down approaches to development while critically assessing the concept of participation as a necessary approach to development. The intention here is to analyse whether the notion of participation is working or just a political act for the sake of satisfying the quests for community empowerment through participation. This piece will conclude with the narrative that even though participation is a desirable approach, it has not fully meant total involvement of local actors in development practice as the theory presupposes.
The Journal of International Social Research received 7760 citations as per Google Scholar report
