Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-254) and index.
Contents:
How does success vary? : redefining democratic success -- Why do cases vary? : a comparative approach -- Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl : participatory democracy or clientelistic participation? -- León : participation as fragmented inclusion -- Recife : from clientelism to disempowering cooption -- Belo Horizonte : the route toward democratic cooperation? -- Conclusion : comparative lessons for participatory democracy theory.
Summary:
Participatory Democracy innovations bringing citizens back into local governance processes are now at the core of the democratic development agenda. Municipalities around the world have adopted local participatory mechanisms in the last two decades, including participatory budgeting and participatory planning. Yet, institutionalized participatory mechanisms have had mixed results in practice at the municipal level. So why and how does success vary? Drawing on the comparative case study of four cities in Mexico and Brazil, The Politics of Local Participatory Democracy in Latin America demonstrates that the level of democratic success is best explained by an approach that accounts for institutional design, structural conditions of mobilization, and the configurations, strategies, behaviors, and perceptions of both state and societal actors. Institutional change alone does not guarantee democratic success: it is the way these changes are enacted by both political and social actors that condition the potential for an autonomous civil society to emerge and actively engage with the local state in the social construction of an inclusive citizenship.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.