Participation In Community Development Process

Research Question 1: Do the citizenry really know the importance participating in community development processes?

Table 2 is a presentation of results of the responses to statements of items 1 through 4, intended to elicit level of citizenry awareness. Given the responses to the said statements, it was observed that even though some of the respondents are aware of the importance of community members’ participation in the community development process, a larger percentage (precisely 59%) is still very ignorant of the importance of their role in the process. Secondly, the percentage distribution connotes that 90.8% of the respondents agreed with the statement of item 2. In the third instance, whereas 51.9% agrees that participation is a practice that develops community members’ capabilities to improve their own lives and that of their community, 4.6% disagreed and as much as 43.5% were undecided in their response to the statement. It is evident that those who disagreed with the statement together with those who were not quite sure what to make of the statement forms 48.1% of the community members. A consideration of these high percentage vis-à-vis research findings submitting that participation is a practice that develops people's capabilities to improve their own lives; that it is an instrument of improvement that is capable of undermining the related vices of ignorance, indolence and class-conflict; and that direct participation of local people in local affairs is an essential means for public education, without which democracy and individual liberty cannot function (Nelson and Wright, 1995; Timothy, 2000; Tosun & Timothy, 2003) is indicative of a high level of ignorance, among community members, of the import of community partic...

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...existent.

Table 3: Responses to statements intended to elicit level of community members’ involvement community development processes

Item

Questions Responses Frequency of Response % out of total Respondent

5 We the community members participate in identifying project to be executed in our community.

SA 5 1.8

A 41 14.5

D 213 75.2

SD 20 7.1

UD 4 1.4

6 Community development projects in my community are identified solely by community development agencies or association executives without the involvement of other community members.

SA 13 4.6

A 122 43.1

D 48 17

SD 8 2.8

UD 92 32.5

7 Only a few elite in my community decides projects to be executed.

SA 7 2.4

A 131 46.3

D 52 18.4

SD 9 3.2

UD 84 29.7

8 We the community members have no idea who decides project to be executed in our community. SA 6 2.1

A 93 32.9

D 158 55.8

SD 26 9.2

UD - -