Abstract

MUNETON SANTA, Guberney; LOAIZA QUINTERO, Osmar Leandro; URAN ARENAS, Omar Alonso  and  PIMIENTA BETANCUR, Alejandro. Beyond Headcounting. A Methodology for Assessing Citizen Participation Quality in Medellín, Colombia. Estud. Polit. [online]. 2023, n.68, pp.85-113.  Epub Dec 12, 2023. ISSN 0121-5167.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.espo.n68a04.

This article applies a method to measure citizens participation in Medellín, Colombia, through a survey which asks people involved in participatory practices. This measurement provides a way to satisfy the needs both by government and citizens to analyze and strengthen participatory processes. This method implements a territorial perspective which considers vertical and horizontal relationships between the citizens and the State, and relationships among citizens themselves. Three dominions characterize citizens participation (the territorial conditions, the actors and participatory practices, and the effects of that participation). These three dominions are measured through 29 variables, which are summed up together through the method of Principal Component Analysis with Optimal Scaling. Results can be decomposed by some population groups and territorial administrative subdivisions, which allows providing valuable information to contribute to the monitoring and design of public policies directed to foster citizen's participation in Medellín, and to foster reflexive and auto evaluative processes by citizens and grassroots organizations. The results for Medellín show average values for the citizen participation index.

Keywords : Public Politics; Citizen Participation; Participatory Democracy; Development Indicators; Governance; Medellin, Colombia.

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