Digital Invited Spaces and Citizens’ Inclusion at the Local level: Constitutive Ambivalence and Paradoxical Dynamics

Abstract

“Invited spaces” are mechanisms for citizen participation set up by public or semi-public institutions with the aim of involving citizens in political deliberation and decision-making (Arnstein, 1969). Digital platforms provide tools for online participatory budgeting, public consultations, citizen surveys, or i-voting. Local authorities implement digital invited spaces with the aim of increasing the transparency of public decisions, and strengthening the legitimacy of local policies through the direct involvement of citizens. However, the institutional nature of these mechanisms leads to a high degree of dependence on the top-down regulatory framework. Authorities establish the rules, determine the issues open to participation, choose the methods of consultation, and ultimately control whether the results are incorporated into policy decisions or rejected (Cornwall, 2002). Invited spaces respond to citizens' disenchantment with representative institutions, in a context of crisis of legitimacy, and a perceived distance between elected officials and citizens (Rouet, Côme, 2023). Claimed spaces are autonomous/self-managed spaces created on the initiative of citizens, often independently of or even in opposition to institutional proposals, for the purpose of debating, formulating demands, and/or taking action (Cornwall, 2002). Self-organized citizens assemblies and digital activism are characterized by autonomous citizens expression and the ability to envisage political action without taking into account the choices and limitations set by institutions (Fung, 2006). Invited spaces are the result of sincere efforts by institutions to be more open to citizens' voices, in a structured and guided manner in terms of participation, duration of discussions, and final decision (Hugues et al., 2025). These mechanisms can strengthen the legitimacy of authorities, without challenging the balance of power. However, they increase opportunities for citizens expression by offering tools for ownership that may exceed the initial intentions of institutions. Invited spaces, created and controlled by the institutions, can thus become de facto places of negotiation, or even conflict, between a top-down normative framework and emerging bottom-up demands. Furthermore, the technical design of the mechanisms is not neutral and can contribute to renewing the credibility and democratic legitimacy of the process (Yang et al., 2024). This constitutive ambivalence leads to a paradoxical dynamic of the exercise of democracy, as spaces for engagement aim to strengthen the institutional legitimacy of the initiators, while at the same time, through their very functioning, opening up the possibility of challenging established systems. References: Arnstein, S. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4), 216–224. Cornwall, A. (2002). Making Spaces, Changing Places: Situating Participation in Development. IDS Working Paper 170. Brighton, Institute of Development Studies. Fung, A. (2006). Varieties of Participation in Complex Governance. Public Administration Review, 66(s1), 66–75. Hughes, M. et al. (2025). Voice to Vision: Enhancing Civic Decision-Making through Co-Designed Data Infrastructure. arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.14853 Rouet, G. & Côme, T. (eds.) (2023). Participatory and Digital Democracy at the Local Level: European Discourses and Practices. Cham: Springer. Yang, J. C. et al.(2024). Designing Digital Voting Systems for Citizens: Achieving Fairness and Legitimacy in Participatory Budgeting. Digital Government, Research and Practice. 5(3). Article 26.

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