CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND ITS LINK WITH TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT

THE PENDING CHALLENGE OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS IN MENDOZA-ARGENTINAPalabras

Abstract

2024In the current scenario, we understand that the State and the citizenryneed to reconfigure their relationship, thinking beyond the emergencyand with a view to building a more committed citizenry and a morepermeable State (Latour, 2020). Part of this reconfiguration is linked tothe challenges posed by the construction of legitimacy in the exercise ofdemocracy and places participation and development at the center of thediscussion (Rofman, 2016).This paper seeks to analyze how citizen participation has been in thelocal governments of Mendoza in the context of the implementation ofthe Land Management policy from 2017 to date. In this line, we startfrom asking ourselves how have participatory mechanisms beenimplemented in local managements? And if these mechanisms applied inthe context of the Municipal Land Management Plans have contributedto generate elements for territorial development. For the study of thecases, the comparative method was used, which allows to know cases indepth, in historical perspective and from a series of variables anddimensions of analysis.As a result of this research, it is concluded that the implementation ofparticipation in the framework of territorial planning has managed todevelop weak and unstable institutional capacities in localadministrations; and in general, it ended up becoming a new "obligation"for management, bringing few benefits to citizens and little contributionto the development of the territory. It is therefore necessary to adopt acritical, multidimensional, historical-transtemporal and relational-trans-multiscale conception of territorial planning and development (Saquet,2014, Sousa Santos, 2014) that can guide the participatory constructionand definition of plans, projects and programs directly linked to the needsand desires of the inhabitants.