Institutionalising participation
The implementation of a civic web platform
Daniel Curto-Millet
Marie Curie Fellow @ Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
www.curtomil.net
@curtomil
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 744957
Framing of study
Collision between political theory, information systems, urban studies, organisation studies, and management
(1) How can participation evolve in time?
(2) How is participation organised?
Participation is a complex process
Background on participation (1)
Too much emphasis on the discursive features of participation actually give too much weight to the normative claims—and not enough to the mechanics of institutionalization that seem to almost inevitably lead to an experience of co-optation
Kelty (2016, S88)
Background on participation (2)
Participation has certain qualities
- Additive (wisdom of the crowd)
- Integrative (best participation can be selected)
Epistemological consequences
- Participation is rational, universal
Do these qualities match with Kelty's quote?
the mechanics of institutionalization that seem to almost inevitably lead to an experience of co-optation
Theory
Resourcing theory (Feldman, 2004)
- Resources are enacted through schemas
- Schemas are mental models held by individuals and groups of their own and the organisation's purpose
- Schemas are acted on to guide change
Consequence?
- Resources take time in being created
- Resources may not correspond to the original schema
- Resources may encourage or impede further resourcing
Explains organisational change through resource creation
Methodology
Longitudinal (2015-2019) and inductive research
Part of a bigger project, looking at different facets
Multiple data collection methods
Still ongoing!
Decide Madrid: A Quioxitic case?
Launched in 2015
Purpose: change social relations in the city through participation
Open source project currently implemented in +100 cities
Received the UN public service award in 2018
Functionality: citizen proposals, debates, participative budgeting
Proposals are a big thing
Analysis (overview)
Democracy does not work for everyone
Everyone can propose almost anything
Decide does not reach
Decide
Proposals are problematic
Citizen observatory
pre-2015
2019
2017
Analysis (Cycle 1)
Occupy movement: democracy does not work for everyone
Decide is built without representation
Create a participatory space away from traditional politics
Analysis (Cycle 2)
Everyone can propose on Decide
Proposals are problematic
No requirement for proposal-making
Analysis (Cycle 3)
Decide does not reach
Create the Citizen Observatory
Change Decide
Discussion
Participation as every body, any how, any when, affective
Participation by representatives (embodied by stats), guided process, managed
EGOS2020: Institutionalising participation
By curtomil
EGOS2020: Institutionalising participation
My presentation for EGOS2020 in the sub-theme on 'Smart and Livable Cities (2): Urban Governance, Management, and Leadership'. This deck briefly describes part of my research on a crowdsourcing civic platform called 'Decide Madrid'.