Promoting Popular Participation

Abstract

New legislation on decentralization has institutionalized popular participation to ensure good governance at the municipal level in Bolivia. Traditional organizations in Bolivian civil society have rallied to the cause of reform. The challenge of decentralization is being met successfully, although the central government sometimes fails to fully implement its own measures. The municipality of Pucarani in the Bolivian Altiplano illustrates how the dynamics of a satisfactory relationship between local actors (governance) contribute to successful implementation of decentralization.