The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Local-level Democracy

The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis of how the HIV/AIDS epidemic already does and increasingly will impact on local-level democracy, and to recommend areas for future research and analysis on this topic. Many people have speculated that HIV/AIDS will detrimentally affect democracy and democratic systems of governance, but very little research has been done to support this claim. In an effort to fill this gap, this research examines the impact of HIV/AIDS on one key component of a democratic system: local-level government. Municipalities provide a large proportion of essential basic services, and also represent one of the primary opportunities for public participation and decision-making at a community level. If the epidemic causes municipal governments to falter or fail, the implications for service provision, for public support of democracy, for law and order, and for political stability could be significant.