Abstract
On August 26, 2018, the Popular Anticorruption Consultation was held in Colombia. It did not have direct legal effects as it did not reach the required minimum participation, but the indirect effects and the characteristics of the consultation deserve study and reflection. The promoters defended that it contributed to make corruption visible as a capital problem of Colombian society. The detractors considered it a resource for personal political promotion of the former. It is worth asking if the consultation was a participatory instrument that improved the Colombian political life or if it was a perversion of participatory democracy that it worsened. This text sets out the regulation and practice of popular consultation in Colombia, analyzes the 2018 consultation, develops a series of proposed elements of what good participatory democracy is and what is not and, from them, studies the nature of the consultation. It is concluded that the consultation had positive aspects, but it was not a good participatory practice.
| Translated title of the contribution | Anticorruption consultation of Colombia of 2018:: good or bad participatory democracy? |
|---|---|
| Original language | Spanish |
| Pages (from-to) | 165-202 |
| Number of pages | 38 |
| Journal | Revista Espanola de Derecho Constitucional |
| Issue number | 124 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2022 |
Keywords
- Colombia
- Corruption
- Participatory democracy
- Popular consultation
- Populism
