Social Actors and Participation in Environmental Issues in Latin America

Abstract

The social participation of human beings and the term used for participants have changed through time. First, it was civil society, later citizenship, and currently social actor. Each concept has implied larger involvements, as rational and reflexive beings, in environmental issues. Today, social actors have become key figures for the governance of ecological systems. In this chapter we discuss the social actor concept and its relationship with environmental governance.

Annex I

Latin American legal frameworks in relation to Arnstein (1969) second and third degree of social participation

Country	Legal framework that incorporates direct social participation	Year	Legal provisions	Territorial scale
Argentina (∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 39)	1995	Citizens have the right to propose law projects to The Congress in diverse issues of their interest	National, provinces and municipalities
	Law N°24.747	1996	Regulates Art. 39	National
	Decree 1172/03 on Access to public information and national strategy for development and land use planning	2013	Public hearings and elaboration of participation norms	National
		2016	Strategic plan as co-management mechanism between civil society and the State at local level. In most cases only legal entities may participate	National, provinces and municipalities
Belice	–		–	–
Bolivia (∗∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 20, Art. 26, Art. 241, Art. 242)	2009	Participation and control by citizens at all levels	National, departments and municipalities
	Law N°031/(Title VII, Chapters “Postnormal Science and Social-ecological Systems” and “Simplifying the Complexity of Social-ecological Systems with Conceptual Models”)	2010	Social participation and control mechanisms to develop laws in autonomous governments	Departments and municipalities
	Law N°341/Social participation and control	2013	Enforcement of Articles 241 and 242 of the Constitution	National, departments and municipalities
Brazil (∗∗)	Constitution (Art.14, Art.29)	1988	Establishes participation mechanisms	National, municipalities
	Law N°9.790	1999	Highlights the possibility of cooperation between the State and civil society. It also creates the category of public interest organizations from the civil society, facilitating their access to public resources	National, municipalities
	Law N°12.257/City statute	2001	Municipal participation budget	Municipalities
	Law N°12.187/National policy on climate change	2009	Stimulate and support civil society’s participation in climate change issues	National, municipalities
Chile	Law N°20.500/Citizens’ participation on public management	2011	The State recognizes the right of people to participate in its policies, plans, programs and actions in order to improve their management	National, regional, communities
	Presidential instrument N°007 on citizens’ participation	2014	Norm that allows the implementation of Law Nº 20.500	National, regional, communities
Colombia (∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 23, Art. 270)	1991	It establishes the citizens’ right to claim and intervene in public management	National
	Law N°80	1993	Citizens’ control of State contracts	National
	Law N°134/On citizens’ participation mechanisms	1994	Establishes the popular legislation and normative initiative	National, departments, municipalities
	Law N°489	1998	Establishes the principles for democratic participation	National, departments, municipalities
Costa Rica (∗)	Law N°7.554/Law of the environment	1995	Promotes citizens’ participation to elaborate territorial instruments and plans	National, regional, municipalities
	Law N°7.794/Municipal Code	1998	Establishes three participatory mechanisms: plebiscites, referendum and chapters	Municipalities
	Ley N°8.491/Popular initiative	2006	Citizens may propose law projects	National
	Ley N°8.492/Referendum law	2006	Citizens may approve or disapprove laws through referendums	National
Ecuador (∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 61, Art. 81, Art.95, Art. 103, Art. 238)	2008	Establishes participation and control rights for citizens	National, provinces
	Law on citizens’ participation	2010	Establishment of participation mechanisms	National
El Salvador	Decree N°274/Municipal code	1986	Establishes participation mechanisms	Municipalities
	Decree N°233/Law of the environment	1998	Advisory participation on environmental issues	Zones, departments, municipalities
Guatemala	Peace agreement	1996	Encourages participation to identify, prioritize and solve citizens’ needs	National
	Law on development councils	2002	Encourages ethnic participation on development plans	National, regional, departments, municipalities, communities
	General decentralization law	2002	Strengths local power	National, regional, departments, municipalities
Honduras (∗)	Constitution (Art. 5)	1982	Participation in public management	National
	Law on citizens’ participation	2006	Establishes forms of participation	National
	Law on participation mechanisms	2013	Regulates participation mechanisms	National
México (∗)	Constitution (Art. 26)	1917	Participation in democratic planification of national development	National
	Planification law	1983	Establishes the principles for social participation in territorial planification	National
	Participation law (Federal District)	2016	Regulates participation instruments	States
	Federal to promote activities from civil society organizations	2018	Encourages citizens’ organizations to participate on environmental protection, restoration of ecological equilibrium and sustainable development	National
Nicaragua	Constitution (Art. 50)	1986	Encourages inhabitants’ participation in public issues	National, departments
	Citizen’s participation law	2003	Encourages institutional mechanisms to link the State and society	National
Panamá	Constitution (Art. 80, 108, 124)	1972	Recognizes the right to participate in culture development. Encourages the participation of ethnic groups and farmers on economy, society, culture and politics	National
	Law N°6/Access to information	2002	Regulates participation mechanisms	National
Paraguay	Constitution (Art. 47, 56, 65, 117)	1992	Promote equal opportunities when using nature’s benefits, material goods and culture	National
Perú (∗∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 2, 31)	1993	Establishes mechanisms for the participation in public issues	National
	Law on participation rights and citizens’ control	1994	Establishes citizens’ rights to participate on public issues and the mechanisms	National
Uruguay (∗∗∗)	Constitution (Art. 331)	1967	Citizens can modify the constitution	National
	Law N°19.272 /Political decentralization and citizens’ participation	2014	Establishes municipal rights and encourages citizens ‘participation	National
Venezuela	Constitution (Art. 62, 168)	1999	Citizens have the right to freely participate on public affairs	National
	Law on public and popular planning	2010	Its objective is to develop and strengthen peoples’ power	National

1. Asterisks correspond to those countries where the legal framework incorporates the concept of Payment for Environmental Services: (∗) national scale, (∗∗) regional, states or provinces and (∗∗∗) local scale