Reconciling the Two Publics? State/Society Harmonization through Participatory Budgeting in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The existence of both the primordial and modern public spheres in Nigeria in which individuals share simultaneous membership but with differential attachments, trust and obligations to both spheres mirror the tension of state and society. In the differential obligations and degrees of acceptance of both publics, the primordial public enjoys a higher preference and therefore more participation. However, a recent civil society intervention in Anambra State not only led to a systematic horizontal cooperation of ensembles in the primordial public but also a vertical linkage between them and state departments, for participatory budgeting. Deploying the method of process tracing, this paper explores whether participatory budgeting in the state has resolved the tension and distrust in state/society relations. Using Anambra State experience of participatory budgeting, we propose a grounded theory of state-society nexus. Evidence from the field indicates that what is opened up yet for vertical integration of primordial and civil segments of the two publics is only a fractional slice of the annual budgets. Nonetheless, vertical integration has pulled together several otherwise apathetic primordial groups into active participation in the civic sphere and offers optimism that the primordial and civic publics could be united for democratic popular participation and accountability