TITLE:
Relationship between Participation and Social Inclusion
AUTHORS:
Louis Nwachi
KEYWORDS:
Plan-Making, Social Inclusion, Participation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.10,
October
13,
2021
ABSTRACT: Studies show that within most countries, there are generally many
different socio-cultural, ethnic and religious groups and this diversity
inevitably creates a level of inter-group tension, with income disparities,
cultural differences, and intergroup segregation leading in turn to social
exclusion. This paper set out to develop a conceptual framework to examine the
relationship between that participation and the social inclusion outcomes in
the plan-making process. It addressed how social inclusion can relate to the plan-making process
culturally, politically and institutionally, economically and socially with high level participation. In doing this, it adopted a case study
approach using the Metropolitan Area of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria as the
study sample of multi-ethnic, cultural and religious area. The research finds
that participation in the plan-making process has a direct impact on social
inclusion outcomes, helping to: break down cultural barriers; create intergroup
cohesion; alleviate poverty; increase economic opportunities; and promote good
governance. It finds that the relationship between participation and social
inclusion varies across different indicators of social inclusion. It shows a
very strong or moderately strong relationship across different indicators.
However, the significance of relationship is very strong across all the
indicators.