Abstract

SUAREZ ANTON, Orestes  and  WELP, Yanina. A Worthless Piece of Paper? Analysis of the Popular Legislative Initiative in Colombia. Estud. Polit. [online]. 2019, n.54, pp.106-126. ISSN 0121-5167.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.espo.n54a06.

The Popular Legislative Initiative (PLI) was designed by the Austrian philosopher and jurist Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) as a mechanism of indirect participation that, on the one hand, allows citizens to express their demands through the institutions and, on the other, informs parliamentarians about citizens’ preferences. This article answers the question on the conditions that the mechanism must meet, focusing on the analysis of the Colombian case: What are the variables that influence the performance of the PLI and can differentiate between an efficient mechanism and a «worthless piece of paper»? Three dimensions are proposed: inclusivity (from who/m and for what can the PLI be activated); the accessibility (or ease of activation, referred to the procedural requirements); and efficacy (the parliamentary procedure, and the participation guarantees inherent to it). As conclusions, the study shows that the Colombian design of the PLI before and after the 2015 reform presents limitations that explain its low performance. Accordingly, we propose some elements for its modification.

Keywords : Political Institutions; Political Participation; Representative Democracy; Direct Democracy; Popular Legislative Initiative; Colombia.

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