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Declining State of Democratic Institutions and the Implications for Governance
also took the lead in implementing crime-prevention initiatives. For
example, as part of the campaign More Light - Less Crime, citizens were
encouraged to install lighting on their front entrances and encourage
other citizens to do the same.
The results of these programs have been outstanding. Close to 1,000
neighborhood residents have so far participated in analyzing and finding
solutions to local public safety problems. Many of the neighborhoods
placed new, or replaced deficient, public lighting and installed
community alarm systems. Some spent weekends painting over graffiti
and holding substance abuse talks with high school students, while
others created neighborhood watch councils. The program is still
being carried out in all these neighborhoods; and mayors are trying to
adapt this model to other neighborhoods in their municipalities.
In Venezuela, the law of Local Councils for Public Planning (CLPP)
was passed to give citizens in the communities the ability to participate.
These councils were made up of civil society members, the local council
people, and the mayor’s office. These councils were organized to support
the local mayor, help prioritize needs, help with the participatory
budgeting process, and help with “social control,” an activity related
to municipal financial transparency and citizen oversight of the work
being done. Along with this, the central government set up a fund
called the Inter-Governmental Fund for Decentralization (FIDES)
which reviewed proposals developed by the community and signed
by the mayors offices and passed on to the central government. The
CLPP’s were also allotted the management of 20 percent of the non-
recurring capital expenditures of the municipality. With support from
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), local
organizations participated in the training of more than 50 CLPP’s with
3,000 members through a set of manuals titled Participatory Visor. In
these manuals, the CLPP law was explained as well as related topics such
as citizen participation, local conflict resolution, needs assessments,
participatory budgeting and others.
In the city of Valencia, in Carabobo state, the CLPPs were so successful
