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Participatory democracy

Cross of Charter impasse, unfolding economy
Walden Bello

With its representative institutions severely weakened by unscrupulous political machinations, the fate of our constitutional democracy will once again depend on the direct democracy of the streets

Key to economic recovery lies in unlocking workers' creativity
Hilary Wainwright

The future of our public services will be as central to the next election as the future of the economy. The experience of Newcastle City Council shows that most political party leaders are wrong when they believe the solution lies in further competition and outsourcing.

Utopia reborn?
TNI
 César Rodríguez-Garavito, Patrick Barret and Daniel Chavez
The resurgence of the left in Latin America has taken social and political analysts by surprise, and this book is the first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the origins, characteristics, dilemmas and possible future trajectories of the various manifestations of the new Latin American...
Participation in Italy
TNI
 Anna Pizzo
Anna Pizzo is a director of Carta (a partner in Eurotopia), and has been a councillor for three years in the Lazio region, where she was elected as an independent with the support of Rifondazione Communista. Inspired by the experience of Porto Alegre, she...
Managing water through participative processes: the case of Catalonia
TNI
 Jordi Pacheco i Canals

Carlos, who is 13 years od, has left his house to go fishing. Not far away, there is a reservoir where he spends long hours watching the birds nest while he waits to catch a fish or two.

Participatory Democracy in 6 Steps
TNI
 Tomás Rodríguez Villasante

Step 1: Identify the symptoms that must be overcome

There must be an initial predisposition: something concrete that unites citizens and civic associations, and which opens paths for further convergence. Participation must be generated from the start – even if there are...

Participatory democracy in Europe
TNI
 Jax Jacobsen

Since 2002, the number of municipalities across Europe which have taken up participatory budgeting in some form has grown from just a handful to well over 150. Yet the nature – and success – of the schemes varies widely.

Very few have followed the original ambitions of the Workers Party...

Interview with Jeronimo Fernandez Cortes
TNI

Jeronimo Fernandez Cortes, 43, is a member of the Federación de Asociaciones Gitanas Calí (Federation of Gypsy Calí Associations), an organisation that is a participant in the Albacete Participation Forum. The federation promoted the creation of the Office for Gypsy Affairs that, thanks to the...

If participative democracy is the answer, what is the question?
Joan Subirats
‘Citizens’ participation’ is a fashionable political concept, but one that increasingly means all things to all people. It is time to reclaim ‘participation’ from those who would use it simply to legitimise existing political institutions, argues Joan Subirats. We should work, instead, at the...
Facing the problems, learning the lessons
Hilary Wainwright

Everywhere – from Brazil to Britain, from Barcelona to Berlin – the reality behind the language of ‘participation’ is contested, complex and contradictory. To encourage and support participatory democracy, a political party has to lead processes of experimentation, critical reflection and...

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