The impulse of participation politics in local politics of País Valencià: Confusions and misleadings

Abstract

The municipal elections of 2015 gave a boost, in País Valencià, to the participation policy. In the agendas of the parties of the entire ideological spectrum, the need to activate citizen participation and transparency was mentioned. After the elections, these intentions materialized in the institutional consideration of bodies such as the councils of participation, areas or services. It is from this realization that the Cátedra Gobierno Abierto, Participación Ciudadana y Open Data promoted by the Conselleria de Transparencia, Responsabilidad Social, Participación y Cooperación de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Universitat de València aims to carry out qualitative research that provides us with information on the processes of inclusion and boosting citizen participation in social policies at the local administration level. In this paper we present the results of the analytical exercise that we have carried out within the framework of this qualitative research: to compare the discourses on the impulse of participation policies at the local level coming from institutional agents (what we have called institutional participation), with the basic precepts of the PRA as a method. The research presented here has, since its inception, looked at the Autonomous Community as a unit of analysis. Fifteen semi-structured interviews have been conducted with local political actors from the areas of citizen participation in Castellón, Alicante and Valencia City Councils. The analysis of qualitative material points to some barriers and confusions, both regarding the concept of participation itself and the lack of consideration of PRA as a process, which emerge as limitations for the implementation of participation policies at the local level. The conclusion that can be drawn points to the need to articulate a model of participation for the País Valencià.