Institutional choice and fragmented citizenship in forestry and development interventions in Bikoro territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Substantive citizenship is the ability of an individual to influence those who govern him or her. In order to assess this 'ability', this study examined the powers of sanction possessed by individuals or groups and the accountability mechanisms at their disposal in three villages in the Bikoro Territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study found that forestry and development agencies chose to partner with identity-based customary authorities and interest-based non-governmental organisations in lieu of local state authorities and the absence of elected local government.