Deliberative Democracy in Latin America

Abstract

Latin America is a recurring reference among scholars of deliberative democracy, mostly due to the participatory budgeting, which was created in Brazil, and quickly spread around the world. The participatory budgeting was deemed successful due to its positive social and political outcomes, but also because it has shown that deliberation can be an inclusive and effective means of democratic decision-making. Yet, the participatory budget is one among hundreds of deliberative practices evolved in Latin America. While a large volume of research has focused on factors leading to participatory budgeting’s success, few have asked what are the contextual and institutional factors that explain why such inclusive and effective deliberative practice was born and bred in Latin America. This chapter tackles this question, and answers it by casting light on a variety of deliberative practices that compose Latin America’s vast experimentation with democracy.