Associations and the Exercise of Democratic ... - Citizenship DRC

IDS WORKING PAPER 285It is striking that, from this base-line of common problem salience and attributionof responsibility, citizens in the two cities have quite different patterns of civilrelations. Differences in the share of active citizens and relations reveal importantdifferences in the nature of citizenship in each city, and in particular differentdegrees of equality with government agents. São Paulo has a clear single patternof citizens-government relations – that is, individuals are most likely to have directrelations to government. A third of active citizens in the city have direct relations.Furthermore, a fifth, or 20 per cent, of active citizens have contentious relations. Incontrast, the high level of detached relations (a quarter of the population) and ofmixed relations (almost half of the total) suggests that active citizens in Mexico Cityenjoy, relative to São Paulo, less equality. That individuals in Mexico City, the seatof national government, are more likely to have detached than direct relations isremarkable and suggests that a substantial share of its residents have difficultymobilising government action, or have given-up on mobilising governmentaltogether.There is also a strong contrast in the share, and composition, of mixed relations. InSão Paulo mixed relations represent 34 per cent of the total, and most includedirect as one of the relations. In the Mexican capital almost half the populationhave mixed relations to government (46 per cent), the large majority of whichinclude detached. This suggests that the civil dimension of citizenship is poorlyinstitutionalised in Mexico City, particularly when compared to São Paulo. Citizensare forced to combine multiple types of relations to address their concerns. Evencitizens who have direct relations to government tend to combine these with oneor more of the other three types of relations. Again, Mexico City residentsattribute primary responsibility to government for issues such as urban services,public order, and health care, in much the same way as São Paulo residents, andhave no ideological or normative preference for community action.Figure 4.2 Percentage of active citizens, by type of civil relations togovernmentNote: Percentage of Active Citizens – São Paulo n=464; Mexico City n=73326