Psychological Mechanisms for Genuine Popular Participation in Rural Development

Abstract

This paper is a theoretical piece. It discusses dijferentmeanings of participation, its justification and application in rural development based on Ethiopian examples. In this study, participation is understood as a set of purposeful activities voluntarily undertaken by rural people in order to exert an influence over development activities which may affect their life. Specifically, it consists of their active involvement in the process of (a) defining and identifYing local problems or needs; (b) deciding the actions to be taken after prioritisa/ion; (c) taking the actions necessary /0 implement the decision; (d) satisfYing the needs identified earlier, and (e) auditing or evaluating the equitability of the benefits and sustainability of a project. In order 10 encourage genuine popular participation, four psychological mechanisms afe suggested: the responsive environment principle of motivation,· modelling; the principle of emotional activation; and cultural factors of motivation.