The effect of civic leadership training on citizen engagement and government responsiveness: experimental evidence from the Philippines

Abstract

What are the effects of providing civic leadership training to community leaders from marginalised groups? Can it lead to increased participation by new leaders in local government processes, and increased government responsiveness to the needs of the poorest and most marginalised? Does it have the unintended consequence of these new leaders being co-opted by local politicians? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Governance Lab (MIT GOV/LAB), in partnership with a coalition of local civil society organisations led by Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government (CCAGG), explored these questions in the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines. CCAGG and its partners designed a training intervention to build the capacity of parent leaders as ‘community facilitators for change’ who can represent the interests of the poor, not just in the context of the CCT programme, but in local governance more broadly. In doing so, the partners sought to use the programme as a vehicle for political empowerment, as well as economic empowerment. This Research Report evaluates the impact of this intervention on the political participation of parent leaders, and the responsiveness of local government officials to the needs of marginalised groups.