The Key to Local Development? Citizen Initiatives and their Relations with Government Institutions

Against the backdrop of changes in the practice of local and regional governance, the role of citizen initiatives in development quickly gained attention in academia and policy making. Hailed as the ultimate form of citizen participation by some, citizen initiatives maintain and create public services and goods as they fill in the gaps left by government. Yet, government institutions remain present actors in these contexts, posing important questions of roles and responsibilities in the governance of rural development. By gathering empirical data in Germany and Uganda, this thesis examines the relations between citizen initiatives and government institutions, their effect on outcomes of cit…