Empowerment is the key

Angélica Lozano

March, 2016

www.angelicalozano.com

28

Years

1988: popular elections of mayors

1991: new types of participation

• Petition Right
• Guardianship Right
• Class Actions
• Referendums
• Mandate revocatory
• Citizen Consultation
• Open Councils

1988

Popular election of mayors

1991

• Petition Right
• Guardianship Right
• Class Actions
• Referendums
• Right to recall
• Citizen Consultation
• Plebiscite

How many have been filed?

5

Guardianship Right

Million

48%

To guardian Petition Right

How many have been filed?

9

Referendums

1

Was voted

1

Question was approved

How many have been filed?

117

Right to recall

70

Were voted

How about local government?

FYI:

I was local mayor of Chapinero

• Chapinero has 150.000 inhabitants
• Holds 51% of Bogotá’s GDP
• Receives 1,5 million visitors each day
• Bogotá’s Kensington and Chelsea

69

Participation tools

Is there a reason to have so many?

Yes:

• Crisis on representative democracy
• The need to include those sectors/demographics that were traditionally excluded
• Answer to new demands from growing urban middle class.

3%

of people had participate on their local planning meetings in 2013.

Information provided by Bogotá Cómo Vamos’ Citizen Perception Poll (2013)

57%

Didn’t even know that such meetings existed.

Information provided by Bogotá Cómo Vamos’ Citizen Perception Poll (2013)

89%

Was not aware of any possibility of citizen oversight in Bogotá.

Information provided by Secretary of Culture’s Biannual Culture Poll

Bottlenecks:

Methodology is rigid

Citizens can’t decide or veto any public decision

Little effectiveness to promote democracy

Experiences: LGBTI Community Center

We created 1 in 2006

Now Bogotá has 2

Defense of La Séptima

Defense of La Séptima

Is participation for the “important” people?

What about for this people?

Animal’s rights

Thank you!