Workshop on MP’s/Citizens Accountability Survey ends in Accra
15 Jul 2009
Accra
A three-day training workshop for 35 research assistants drawn from nine regions in Ghana has ended in Accra. It was organized by the Africa Power and Politics Program (APPP's) research stream studying the relationship between Members of Parliament and their constituents.
The workshop is a follow-up to a pilot project carried out last year under the MP's/Citizens Accountability survey cycle and it was meant to help the fieldworkers familiarize themselves with the survey instrument, acquire a wide range of research skills and build their confidence. The training also provided an opportunity for the fieldworkers to improve upon their writing and interpersonal skills in addition to providing them with basic knowledge on research ethics.
Research Assistants at the Workshop
Addressing the participants, Professor Staffan Lindberg, a lecturer of Political Science from the University of Florida, (USA) and the Lead Researcher said the study would provide evidence on the defining characteristics of accountability relationships between the Members of Parliament and the citizens of Ghana. He said the study would also identify the causes of the existing relationships between the Members of Parliament and the people and provide clues for how democracy can be made to work better.
Professor Lindberg addressing the participants
"The relationship between citizens and their representatives work differently in different countries for various reasons. Just as people living in different areas may have different needs, a particular Member of Parliament may have to choose between providing private goods to a few friends or individuals, collective goods for the constituency as whole or public goods that everybody in the country can enjoy, he said."
Comparing the Parliamentary system in Ghana with the Western democracies, he said the two systems work differently. The system in Britain for example, puts pressure on the MP's to do constituency work because the MP represents one constituency and the expectation is how he or she would bring business investments into his constituency and perform oversight over local government. The system in Ghana works differently because MPs are constantly under pressure to provide private goods for a few individuals at the expense of other members of the community. "Many people are no more in Parliament because that," he said.
Mr. Victor Brobbey, a lead researcher at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development charged participants to provide high quality data and maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of respondents. The study is being conducted in 13 constituencies in nine regions in Ghana.
