ocial and political potential of local planning and participatory budget in Medellin, Colombia as a way of strengthening democracy in Latin America

Abstract

The Medellin Local Planning and Participatory Budgeting Program (PPLPP) is presented and commended on as an innovative experience for both Colombia and the rest of Latin America, considering its integration of development planning and participatory budget (PP) through the use of regulatory, political, institutional and social means. This peculiarity distinguishes Medellin PP from other Latin American programs in similar lines, which usually tend to be interpreted from two opposing approaches: as a strategy of counter-hegemonic globalization (Santos, 2007) or as a liberal governance strategy (Goldfrank, 2006; Montecinos, 2009). To demonstrate the above, the discussion between the two perspectives of PP in Latin America is reviewed and the characteristics that make the pplpp experience novel are shown. Lkewise, the article exhibits their social and political potential to strengthen democratic stakes by enabling citizen participation in decision-making on the city budget investment, combined with the dynamism of the exercise of participatory planning to guide local development.