A participatory citizen consultation: the case of the state of Michoacán, Mexico

Abstract

"This article discusses the process of construction of “critical citizenship” in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, since 2002. After the anthropologist Lázaro Cárdenas Batel, the candidate of the PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution), took office as state governor in that same year, a process designed to favor, stimulate and empower the citizens in the exercise of their right to participate in the government’s co-management was started. On the basis of the political platform of his electoral campaign, his government plan and mainly the explicit political will to govern “from, for and with the citizens,” actions designed to materialize this motto were developed. The article describes the foundations of this process, the methodological proposals, the design of the “workshops for self-diagnosis and working out of proposals” (TADEPs), their implementation, the required instruments and the results that have been obtained. It presents other consultation mechanisms that have been applied and their results. It also describes the “follow-up mechanisms” that were implemented to apply what was researched and in this way to strengthen the real processes of citizen participation." (author's abstract)