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Participation as an Essential Element of an Active Civil Society
and consolidate democratic systems in Latin America. We shall present
the basic tenets of participation as well as the characteristics of the
so-called participatory democracy. Subsequently we will review two
examples of citizen participation from the continent, Venezuela and
Bolivia. We aim to show examples of both a successful participatory
model, as well a model that represents a distortion of democratic
principles.
What Does it Mean to Participate?
According to the
Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language
, participate
has the following meaning: “1. To take part in something. 2. Receive
a part of something. 3. Share, have the same opinions, ideas, etc., of
another person. 4. Have a share in a society or business or be partners
thereof. 5. Report, communicate.”
2
According to the
Dictionary of
Judicial, Political and Social Sciences
, participation “is the action and
effect of participating; of one having part of something or having a
share thereof.”
3
To participate is to be a part of something, but a part of what exactly?
To truly understand this concept in its various forms, we must define
how one participates, through which processes and with what results.
Participation in the field of politics or citizen participation demands a
change in the attitude of citizens who choose to participate, as well as
the promotion of social organization spearheaded by society and the
state to facilitate civic processes.
Enrique Pérez Olivares, quoting Arístides Calvani, says that
participation is an existential situation and also implies an existential
disposition to be part of something, and take part of a larger whole.
In other words, being, having and taking part of a larger whole, results
from the adequate conjugation of personal and social attitudes; on one
hand of mental and subjective structures and on the other, of forms of
organization, and as a result, of material or objective structures.
4
These subjective and objective structures contribute to the development
