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Incidence of Social Accountability in Local Governance: The Case of the Network for Fair, Democratic and Sustainable Cities and Territories in Latin America

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Abstract

In Latin America, the emergence of a series of civil society initiatives aimed at citizen engagement for social accountability and democratization in local governance has been a novelty since the 2000s. One of these initiatives is the Latin American Network for Fair, Democratic and Sustainable Cities and Territories, which congregates over 70 initiatives in 10 countries. This article describes and analyzes the nature of civil society initiatives, their repertoires of actions, and their incidence in processes of transparency and accountability, citizen participation, public policies, and local governance. The research was conducted between 2012 and 2016, including a questionnaire with 23 initiatives in 8 countries, interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. The results show the emergence of cross-sectional and systemic accountability, counting on collaboration and co-production of information and control between citizens and government agencies.

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Fig. 1

Source: Schommer et al. (2015, p. 1380)

Fig. 2

Source: Schommer et al. (2015, p. 1381)

Fig. 3

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Notes

  1. We embrace the structural approach of the concept of political opportunity as a theoretical tool to explain “the aspects of the external world, which affect the development of social movements and how this development is affected” (Meyer and Minkoff, 2004, p.1459). For the study, we understand “social movements” as the initiatives of social accountability that are part of the network.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Udesc, The Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina, and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), in Brasil; to the Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo, Cider, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia; and to the Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores, Bogota, Colombia.

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  1. Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo, Cider, Universidad de Los Andes, Calle 18A No. 0-19 Este, edificio Bloque Pu. Cider, 57, Bogotá, Colombia

    Andrés Hernández Quiñones

  2. Departamento de Administração Pública, Grupo de Pesquisa Politeia, Centro de Ciências da Administração e Socioeconômicas, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Av. Me. Benvenuta, 2037 - Itacorubi, Florianópolis, SC, 88035-001, Brazil

    Paula Chies Schommer

  3. Dirección de Investigaciones, Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores, Carrera, 16 #63a-68, Bogotá, Colombia

    Diana Cuadros De Vílchez

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  1. Andrés Hernández Quiñones
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Correspondence to Paula Chies Schommer.

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Hernández Quiñones, A., Schommer, P.C. & Cuadros De Vílchez, D. Incidence of Social Accountability in Local Governance: The Case of the Network for Fair, Democratic and Sustainable Cities and Territories in Latin America. Voluntas 32, 650–662 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-020-00295-6

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