¿Online o presencial? Las cualidades de las iniciativas participativas en municipios de Andalucía y Madrid

Isabel Becerril-Viera

doi:10.21308/recp.66.02

Authors

Isabel Becerril-Viera Universidad de Salamanca

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21308/recp.66.02

Keywords:

democratic innovations, citizen participation, design, inclusiveness, information, debate, online

Abstract

This study analyses the implications of the adoption of online format in the design of democratic innovations, specifically in three key dimensions: the inclusiveness of participants, the provision of information and the interaction between participants. The main objective is to explore these qualities of face-to-face and online participatory initiatives in Spain and to try to explain their differences. Part of these differences may be due to the format (face-to-face versus online), but we will also analyse other possible explanatory factors of the design, such as the vocation for stability, the ideology of the local governments and the income of the municipalities. To do so, we follow a quantitative methodological design based on the analysis of data from an online survey addressed to all town councils of municipalities with more than 1000 inhabitants in Andalusia and Madrid. The database collected 608 participatory experiences that were being implemented in 2020 at the local level. The main findings suggest that online initiatives show a greater intention of inclusiveness of participants, with more open selection mechanisms, as well as providing information about the process in a more diversified way, through various channels. In contrast, the online format tends to be less conducive to horizontal interaction and debate among participants than face-to-face initiatives.

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