Mobilizing for Democracy is an in-depth study into how ordinary citizens and their organizations mobilize to deepen democracy. Featuring a collection of new empirical case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, this important new book illustrates how forms of political mobilization, such as protests, social participation, activism, litigation and lobbying, engage with the formal institutions of representative democracy in ways that are core to the development of democratic politics.No other volume has brought together examples from such a broad Southern spectrum and covering such a diversity of actors: rural and urban dwellers, transnational activists, religious groups, politicians and social leaders. The cases illuminate the crucial contribution that citizen mobilization makes to democratization and the building of state institutions, and reflect the uneasy relationship between citizens and the institutions that are designed to foster their political participation.

Explains how ordinary citizens and their organizations mobilize to deepen democracy. This book includes a collection of empirical case studies from Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa that illustrate how alternative forms of political mobilization engage with the formal institutions of representative democracy.

Foreword - John GaventaIntroduction - Vera S. Coelho & Bettina von LieresPart I: Associational mobilization: constructing citizenship2. Have NGO Political Empowerment Programs at the Grassroots Level Contributed the Deepening of Democracy in Kenya? - Celestine Nyamu Musembi3. Microfinance and Social Mobilization: Alternative Pathways to Grassroots Democracy? - Naila Kabeer and Simeen Mahmud4. The Nucleo Representativo das Associações (NRA) of Dombe Grande, Angola: building democracy and citizenship at the local level - Idaci Ferreira and Sandra RoquePart II: Social movements: contesting political authority and building state responsiveness5. We got it in our heads that we should do the job of the state the Indigenous Peoples - Movement and the Health System in Acre, Brazil - Alex Shankland6. The 2007 Movement and the Role of Citizen Action in the Consolidation of Democracy in Nigeria - Jibrin Ibrahim and Samuel Egwu7. How Deep is Deep Democracy? Global Citizenship in Local Spaces - Steven RobinsPart III: Citizen involvement in formal governance mechanisms8. The Infinite Agenda of Social Justice: Dalit Mobilization in the Institutions of Local Governance - Ranjita Mohanty9. Public Involvement and Social Mobilization: A win-win game? - Vera S. P. Coelho, Alexandre Ferraz, Fabiola Fanti, Meire Ribeiro10. Dynamics of Political Change and transformation: Civil Society, Governance and the Culture of Politics in Kenya - Duncan OkelloPart IV: Where and how to participate?11. Passivity or Protest? Understanding the dimensions of Mobilization on Rights to Services in Khayelitsha, Cape Town - Lisa Thompson and Ndodana Nleya12. How styles of activism influence social participation and democratic deliberation - Arilson Favareto, Yumi Gonçalves, Frederico Menino, Carolina Galvanese, Vera S. P. Coelho