Participative Planning for Development in the Context of Political Disaffection. Case Study, Medellín 2004-2010

Abstract

The inclusion of the  social  base  in  the  planning  processes  for  development  of  the Colombian territory, has been marked by a series of obstacles that limits the participation of a significant number of citizens in the government’s administration and making public decisions; a situation that is fed by laws that are limited to mechanisms, times and scenarios for civic consultation in the formulation of the development plans, but doesn’t delve deeper into taking the population’s decisions into account on big problems that afect their quality of life and the integral development of the country,   a scenario that also occurs in the municipality of Medellin, the territorial entity that is the subject of this case study. This situation is exacerbated by the ignorance of citizens about the possibilities of intervening in government’s decisions, distrust toward State institutions and indiference toward being involved in the public sphere, resulting in an environment of political disafection that afects the stability, governance and legitimacy of the democratic regime; this implies important challenges for the political leaders in managing this disafection and supporting shared responsibility in government.