Participa: a Chilean NGO

PARTICIPA was created in 1988 in Santiago, Chile. It is a private organization that promotes the creation of informed, organized, responsible and participatory citizens. PARTICIPA believes that strengthening democracy implies at least two challenges: On the one hand, it means strengthening the institutions of the democratic system so that they have legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens. On the other hand, it means developing informed citizens, who are aware of their rights and responsibilities and are motivated to exercise them. In this context, PARTICIPA focuses its work on four areas:

Citizen Participation

PARTICIPA’s mission implies an understanding of citizenship as a participatory condition and one which requires that participation is effective. From this perspective, it is important to note that there is currently a crisis in what we call representative democracy. One of the most ostensible aspects of this crisis is the growing recognition by citizens of their needs and aspirations and the fact that they are not sufficiently met through the representation of political leaders elected through popular elections. We now see citizens who want to participate in governments and public policy, not just as objects but also as actors in the decision making process and in the implementation and oversight of decisions.

PARTICIPA seeks to encourage citizen participation and brings together the various actors in this process. PARTICIPA is aware that an increase in participation should not just be in a programmatic or formal sense, but in the effective solution of problems. Citizen participation in the planning and implementation of policies refers to the influence of citizens in decision making on public interest issues, in the prioritization of needs, the formulation of policies, the implementation of those policies and in their evaluation and oversight as well.
It is also important to work with private enterprises. The business sector is expected to contribute through its initiatives, creativity and resources to the strengthening of citizen organization and the support of citizen projects. This will promote a more sustainable and equitable development that at the same time, contributes to the stability of democracy.

Electoral Processes

Although there is now a consensus that elections constitute the foundation of the liberal democratic concept, there is also consensus as to the necessity to consider additional factors in order for an electoral process to be participatory and transparent. In our society, democracy is being broadened through more frequent citizen participation in all kinds of deliberations, in various collective bodies. This is about the inclusion of citizens in the circuit of power. Voter education should prepare citizens to make decisions, to create power, to construct relations and to generate political will.
The education and training of citizens is necessary. PARTICIPA operates under the assumption, that it is necessary to have electoral processes where the largest possible number of citizens participate and where those who vote do so with knowledge and information of the candidates and the options that each of them represents.

Education for Democracy

Effective citizen participation will not have a real impact unless there are certain basic understandings regarding life in democracy, with respect for and awareness of human rights, pluralism and tolerance. Today there are shared criteria that indicate that the concept of democracy is an increasingly demanding term with greater content. It is no longer enough to just have certain institutions recognized as democratic and to have free elections for a society to be considered truly democratic.

Therefore, it is a challenge to have informed citizens, with opinions, aware of their rights and responsibilities and with the motivation to exercise them. The necessary consensus to live together in a democracy must come from autonomous, informed citizens in a situation of liberty and equality.
Recognition of the value and importance of human rights and their actual respect, the use and application of pluralist criteria in daily life and in the design and application of public policies and true tolerance of diversity and minority groups are basic requirements to account for the maturity of a democracy.
In addition, tolerance is a basic characteristic of democracies, understood as the recognition by all actors in a political system of the legitimacy, respect and consideration of opposite positions. In Chile, there is much to be done in this area, given that it’s not just about tolerating constituted groups, but also incorporating those citizens who represent new perspectives or visions.

Respect for human rights, pluralism and tolerance in a society is learned and practiced daily in personal and collective behavior. Here, PARTICIPA has proposed to make a contribution to deepening democracy.

Institutional Development

Civil society needs to be strengthened to create its agendas and later carry them out. Therefore, civil society should be effectively organized for it to be able to influence the development of a country and have the representativeness and legitimacy necessary to demand significant changes.

The efficiency of institutions in the public sector is indispensable in the implementation of policies. There should not only be a good administration for the design of policies, but it is especially important that the policies adopted be applied in an efficient way. In this sense an organized contribution is also necessary from the civil society.

It is here where the closeness of the public sector to citizens acquires major importance and where distance between them works against governance, as has been seen with the governments in our region that have rapidly lost prestige following categorical triumphs.

Index: Podium

Language Learning, Tolerance and Human Rights
by K. Hugh Starkey

Sub Group "Tolerance Reports"
by Valerie Morgan

Sub Group "Language and Democracy"
by Michael Seberich

Sub Group "Evaluation"
by Katrin Uhl

Portrait
Participa: A Chilean NGO

Case Study: Citizenship and Education in 28 Countries
reviewed by Katrin Uhl

"Linguistic Genocide in Education"
reviewed by Constanze Schellhaas

Carl Bertelsmann Prize
by Sabine Donner