Many analysis of the dynamics linking the public from popular neighborhoods and the State in participatory structures have a tendency to separate the entity of the barrio in one hand, and the actors who try to have a political influence on it in another. In this way, analysis incurs on the risk of fixating these relationships, undermining the social dynamics hidden behind what seems to be the encounter of two separate actors. We propose an approach in which participatory structures are considered by the social logics that shape the relationships between those who are involved in them (street level bureaucrats, social movement’s representatives and citizens). Further more, we propose to analyze how the network of participatory actors is an intrinsical element of the social structure of the barrio.
