Local Powers and Participation

Recommended Prerequisites

- Basic knowledge about the principle of “subsidiarity” and decentralization dynamics, as well as capacity for framing the relation between representative democracy and theories and techniques of participatory and deliberative democracy.

- Fluency in written and oral English

- Knowledge of techniques and styles of academic writing  

Teaching Methods

The seminar is based on regular classes which include an overview of the topic by the lecturer, and an in-depth discussion by the students of the texts assigned in each class. The texts will be made available in a special section of NONIO. Students will also participate in events in local government institutions organized around municipal participatory innovations and training courses for the technical staff of local institutions. Essay proposals, due at the end of the semester, will be discussed collectively.

Learning Outcomes

This unit is aimed at analyzing the dynamics of governance along two central axes: (1) the transformations of the legal frameworks about public policies induced by the principle of subsidiarity and decentralization practices; and (2) the emergence of innovations in the fields of direct and participatory democracy, which complement the functioning of representative institutions. Students should be able to identify and critique these innovations through quantitative and qualitative approaches, based on a perspective of “continuity/discontinuity” in relation to more traditional forms of citizens’ engagement in public policies. For a better thematic understanding, some modules are devoted to the transformation of municipal companies, others to “politics, health and society”. Given the relevance of participatory budgeting and strategic planning processes in several regions of the world, the seminar analyses specifically the variety of experiences these practices have generated.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The principle of subsidiarity and the evolution of its practice

2. Markets, hierarchies, communities and networks

3. The Labyrinthine State and the image of local powers

4. Transparency, social responsibility and social accountability

5. The management of municipal services in comparative perspective

6. Participatory processes at the local and supra-local level

7. Strengthening the individual and the community through participatory processes: the contribution of psycho-sociology

8. City, governance and contemporary urban citizenship.

9. Architecture, planning and democracy

10. Re-semanticizing the paradigm of the Right to the City

11. Governance, participation and evaluation: examples from the public health sector

12. Alternative globalizations and the reinvention of social emancipation

Head Lecturer(s)

Giovanni Allegretti

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Bakker K. ( 2007), “The “Commons” Versus the “Commodity”: Alter-globalization, Anti-privatization and the Human Right to Water”, in Antipode, 39 (3), 430–455

 

Delors J. (1991) «Le principe de subsidiarité: contribution au débat». In: Actes du Colloque Jacques Delors: La subsidiarité, European Institute of P.A., pp. 7-18.

 

Harvey D. (2008), “The Right to the City”, New Left Review, Sept/Oct 2008, pp. 23-40

 

Ruivo, F.; et al. (2011), O Poder Local Português e A Construção Europeia: O Estado Labiríntico Revisitado. Coimbra: Almedina.

 

Santos, B. (2010), Refundación del Estado en América Latina, Plural Editores - CESU-UMSS

 

Sintomer, Y. et al. (2012) "Transnational Models of Citizen Participation" Journal of Public Deliberation: Vol. 8: Iss. 2

 

Smith, Graham (2009), Democratic Innovations, Cambridge University Press

 

Thompson G. et al. (1991), Markets, Hierarchies and Networks, Sage.

 

Pierre, J.; Peters, G. (2005), Governing Complex Societies, Palgrave/Macmillan.