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From the Grassroots to the Mayor’s Office: Social Movements, Democratic Innovation, and Participatory Dilemmas in New Progressive Governments

Local Government
Political Parties
Social Movements
Decision Making
Political Activism
S134
Pau Alarcón
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Patricia García-Espín
Universidad de Granada

Building: (Building C) Faculty of Law, Administration & Economics , Floor: 1st floor, Room: Amf A

Friday 17:50 - 19:30 CEST (06/09/2019)

Abstract

In different contexts in Europe and America, members and leaders of social movements have won elections at the local, national or regional levels. These experiences are not totally new: they represent a bridge bypassing the traditional distinction between electoral and non-electoral politics. The cases of Podemos and the municipalist candidatures in Spain, Syriza in Greece, López Obrador (Morena) in Mexico or the recent election of left Democrat representatives for the U.S.A Congress may pose new questions regarding the connection of contentious politics, social movements and institutions. Similar processes happened in the past, for example, in the late 80s with members of the ecologist and pacifist movements joining green parties (Kitschelt, 1993; Polleta, 2004; McAdam & Tarrow, 2010). The main goal of this Panel is to analyze the performance of those governments (and representatives) in relation to participatory politics and democratic innovation especially at the local level. Have they developed democratic innovations in their decision-making processes? How their performance is linked to the grassroots movements and to the society in general? What are the main changes and continuities in their participatory proposals? Do these new experiences show differences in comparison with previous stages like in the 80s? This panel focuses mainly in three aspects related to democratic innovation: firstly, the creation of participatory institutions at the party level before and after elections; secondly, participatory institutions that were boosted and implemented when these new parties (or representatives) accessed government (or representation); and thirdly, informal coalitions and conflicts with social movements and other social actors around participatory politics. In the end, we want to discuss the participatory dilemmas which new progressive governments face when they take office or representation: if they are promoting democratic innovations, the conflicts they are facing and the solutions they are putting on the table; or if they are replicating traditional formulas and already-tested participatory institutions such as participatory budgeting or advisory councils. Papers based on case-studies, cross-case comparisons, and more general studies based on statistical data are more than welcome. References Kitschelt, H. (1993): “Social movements, political parties, and democratic theory”, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 528(1), 13-29. Polleta, F. (2004): Freedom is an endless meeting. Democracy in American social movements, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. McAdam, D., & Tarrow, S. (2010): “Ballots and barricades: On the reciprocal relationship between elections and social movements”, Perspectives on Politics, 8(2), 529-542.

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