Between Reality and Utopia: Building a democracy of good quality, ecuadorian experience

Abstract

In our country there have been several constitutional transformations aimed at improving the quality of democracy. With this article we seek to analyse the implementation process of the current legislation. The various changes in the legal and administrative structure of the state have strengthened official institutions. Nonetheless these changes have also weakened the capacities of social organizations and demobilized social participation, blocking direct channels of dialogue and negotiation between authorities and social organizations. These reformations led to a bureaucratic vision of citizen participation. Citizens who wish to make use of the opportunities for citizen participation, must run through a series of stages, steps and procedures, proving their right to speak, propose, opine, demand or criticize. The motivation to participate is influenced by a sequence of processes, produced by a bureaucratic vision, in which the magnitude of the power of executors lacks transparency and where decisions aren’t made official. The pressure of power affects participation and will lead to indulgent decision making and moving of critical positions. Motivation turns into disillusion, disillusion turns into frustration, frustration turns into scepticism which eventually will cause separation and division.