A Comparative Study of Democratic Innovations in Latin America

In recent years, Latin America became a distinct empirical source for studies on participatory democracy. Nonetheless, a significant part of the debate on democratic innovations focuses on case studies, often on one experiment, the participatory budgeting, and frequently on one country, Brazil. Few comparative studies have been pursued so far, and a big picture of participatory democracy in the region is still missing. This paper aims at filling this gap. Relying on a new database on democratic innovations in Latin America (LATINNO), it will discuss data on hundreds of different institutional designs in twenty countries, and answer questions not yet empirically and comparatively addressed by the literature. In particular, the comparative assessment will highlight how some institutional design features of participatory innovations are bound to impact on different dimensions of democracy, such as accountability, responsiveness, political inclusion and social equality.