Understanding developments - Essay Example

Development can only realize its full potential through motivating the people, involving them in the projects and organisation at the grassroots levels. Citizens and the agencies have seen the benefits of including the people in the various projects to achieve success hence made it almost mandatory to seek participation in any project. Participation of the people was embraced due to the concerns that development was not only capital centered but also needed the approval of the local people for it to succeed.

Participation was aimed at improving the distribution of growth and to reach out to even the lowest income groups of people and emphasise the importance of development to the entire populations. In the recent decades, participation has taken the form of democratisation where citizens are allowed to vote for what they want, and any project that they feel is best for them (Oakley, 1995). The easiest form of participation is in the political arena where everyone is given the equal right to vote for whoever they want and thus increasing the sense of responsibility.

When the communities on the grounds are allowed to participate in the various projects, they are more likely to be successful. The idea of participation started as a way of reducing poverty among the people and increasing their influence over factors meant to benefit them. The increasing levels of poverty were a major concern, and it was believed that people were poor since they did not have any influence over the factors that determined are directly affected them (Dom, 2012). Therefore participation would enable them to have some control over the factors that affect them including access to resources that would help them to improve their standards of living.

Decisions on development projects were in the past made by people who did not understand the needs of the poor and thus he projects would at most times be irrelevant to the people.