Media Choice and Public Participation in the Budget Making Process for Nyeri County
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47604/ijcpr.2303Keywords:
Public Participation, Media, Budget Making ProcessAbstract
Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of Media Choice on Public Participation in the Budget Making Process in Nyeri County.
Methodology: The study population constituted all the residents operating and living in Nyeri County, Nyeri County Government officials and leaders from both the County Executive and County Assembly. The study applied a descriptive study design and used both primary and secondary data that was obtained from public participation reports, publications, and interviews with county government officials, budget committee members and questionnaires to the MCAs, residents, staff of the County Assembly. Stratified random sampling was used to select and identify respondents from Nyeri County residents' attendees in public participation fora and a further random sampling to obtain respondents from the Wards. Strata and purposive sampling was used to get key informants from the County Executive and County Assembly. A sample size of 72 general respondents and 12 key informants was used. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using a study questionnaire and interview guides respectively. Qualitative data was represented using study themes or goals and was discussed in narrative. The quantitative data was sorted and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The findings were presented using tables and graphs
Findings: A regression correlation analysis of the data showed that the independent variables (social media =0.044, for print media = 0.047) were significant with p values of less than 0.05 - the predetermined significance level - to imply that the results were statistically significant. The p value for radio station was 0.326, greater than 0.05, thus not significant in its effect on public participation in the budget making process in the County Government of Nyeri. From the data collected, great importance was placed on vernacular and community radio stations which are potential channels for communicating pertinent information on the budget making process. The research found out other factors that determine effectiveness of public participation to include public's awareness of its rights, individual understanding of the processes, and level of education and prevailing support infrastructure.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Medium Theory and Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation Model informed the study variables and approach. Further research is recommended to explore other variables. The study findings will help planners and implementers at the County level when setting out to engage the public for their participation in the County's development agenda. .
Downloads
References
AfriMAP (2011). Kenya: Public broadcasting survey. Nairobi: African Minds.
Albrechts, L. (2002). The planning community reflects on enhancing public involvement. Views from academics and reflective practitioners. Planning Theory & Practice, 3(3), 331-347. doi:10.1080/1464935022000019563
Aref, F., & Redzuan, M. (2009). Community leaders' perceptions toward tourism impacts and level of building community capacity in tourism development. Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(3). doi:10.5539/jsd.v2n3p208
Bryson, J. M., Quick, K. S., Slotterback, C. S., & Crosby, B. C. (2012). Designing public participation processes. Public Administration Review, 73(1), 23-34. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02678.x
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium [CRECO]. (2014). Model policy framework for public participation in county governments. Nairobi: The Author.
Coupland, D. (2010). Marshall McLuhan: You know nothing of my work! Atlas
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2006). Is there a basic human need for meaning? The perspective of self-determination theory. PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e633962013-188
Durham, M. G., & Kellner, D. (Eds.). (2005). Media and cultural studies: Keyworks. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Esonu, B., & Kavanamur, D. (2011). Exploring the relationship between the level of stakeholder participation and local-level government performance in Papua New Guinea: The case of Wampar local-level government in Morobe Province. International Public Management Review, 12(1), 98-111
Gerometta, J., Haussermann, H., & Longo, G. (2005). Social innovation and civil society in urban governance: Strategies for an inclusive city. Urban Studies, 42(11), 2007-2021. doi:10.1080/00420980500279851
Gitegi W. C, & Iravo M. (2016). Factors affecting public participation in effective devolved governance in Kenya: A case of Uasin Gishu County. The Strategic Journal of Business And Change Management, 3(4), pp 1302-1324.
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA Kenya) (2015). Third quarter budgetary performance 2014/15. https://ieakenya.or.ke/?wpdmdl=1532
James, B. (2014). Media and good governance. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 15-57. Paris: UNESCO.
Jonsson, A. (2005). Public participation in water resources management: Stakeholder Voices on degree, scale, potential, and methods in future water management A Journal of the Human Environment, 34(7), 495-500. doi:10.1579/0044-7447-34.7.495
Katiambo, D. & Ooko, G. (2017). Reconstructing collective memory through participatory approaches: A study of Transparency International-Kenya's citizen demand programme. Journal of Development and Communication Studies, 5(1): 78-97. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jdcs.v5i1.5
Keane, J. (2013). Democracy and media decadence. doi:10.1017/cbo9781107300767
Locksley, G. (2009). The media and development. World Bank Working Papers. doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-7828-1
Marshall, P. New media cultures. UK: Bloomsbury Academic, Oxford University Press
Mayfield III, T. D. (2010). The impact of social media on the nature of conflict, and a Commander's strategy for social media. doi:10.21236/ada545261
Mbeke, P. O. (2010). Mass media in Kenya: Systems and practice. Nairobi: Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.
McCombs, M. E. (2014). Setting the agenda: The mass media and public opinion (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
McLuhan, M. (2003). Understanding media: The extensions of man (Critical Ed., W. T. Gordon, Ed.). Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press
McQuail, D. (2005) McQuail's Mass Communication theory. (5th edition). London: Sage Publications
McQuail, D., Golding, P., & De Bens, E. (2005). Communication theory and research. doi:10.4135/9780857024374
Meyrowitz, J. (2008). Power, pleasure, patterns: Intersecting narratives of media influence. Journal of Communication, 58(4), 641-663. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00406.x
Moseti, Y (2010). Public participation for sustainable development in local cities, 46th ISOCARP Congress 2010, Kenya
Mugenda, A. G., & Mugenda, O. (2012). Research methods dictionary. Nairobi, Kenya: Applied Research & Training Services.
Mwangi, D., Biwott, C. & Gichuhi, D. (2018). Content of vernacular radio stations programs and public participation in devolved governance in Nyeri County, Kenya. Journal of Development and Communication Studies. 5. 70. 10.4314/jdcs.v5i2.5.
Okinda, I. T. (2017). The role of information in public participation for grassroots development in counties in Kenya. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3502718
Okoth, E. (2015). The Emergence and growth of vernacular radio in Kenya: A case study of radio having a positive economic impact. Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper. UK: University of Oxford
Orao, J. (2012). The Kenyan indigenous languages and the mass media: Challenges and opportunities. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 38(0). doi:10.5842/38-0-62
Ostrom, E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419-422. doi:10.1126/science.1172133
Parker, B. (2002). Planning analysis: The Theory of citizen participation. PPPM 613: Planning Analysis. University of Oregon. https://pages.uoregon.edu/rgp/PPPM613/class10theory.htm
Robinson, M. (2007). Introduction: Decentralising service delivery? Evidence and policy implications. IDS Bulletin, 38(1), 1-6. doi:10.1111/j.1759-5436.2007.tb00332.x
Schugurensky, D., & Myers, J. (2003). Learning to teach citizenship: A lifelong learning approach. Encounters/Encuentros/Rencontres on Education. doi:10.15572/enco2003.08
Snyder, J., & Ballentine, K. (1996). Nationalism and the marketplace of ideas. International Security, 21(2), 5-40. doi:10.1162/isec.21.2.5
Transparency International [TI] (2014). Budget making in Kenya What the law says, all you need to know about the budget making process in kenya. Adili, 146.
Yang, K. (2008). Examining perceived honest performance reporting by public organizations: bureaucratic politics and organizational practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(1), 81-105.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Lucy Bitutu Ogoti, Prof. Hellen Mberia, Dr. John Ndavula
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
