Gaps in rural participation in the parliamentary process

An empirical contribution to understanding rural citizenship in Chile

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7153147
AutoresBeatriz Bustos-Gallardo (0000-0003-4586-9458, Universidad de Santiago de Chile), Rolando Díaz Villanueva (0009-0000-7246-8890, University of Chile), Javiera Larrain-Suckel (0000-0002-0530-2003, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, autor de correspondencia), Brigitte Ortiz (0000-0001-8180-5465, University of Chile, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen44
Número1
Páginas123-141
Fecha de publicación2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEnvironment and Planning C Politics and Space (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2399-6544 • E-ISSN: 2399-6552
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/23996544251353630
OpenAlexW4412128069
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas28

Studies on citizen participation in politics have tended to focus on voters and electoral processes at the national level, and little consideration has been given to the particularities of rural territories or the parliamentary legislative process as a space for citizen participation. In this article, we analyse how representatives of a rural electoral district in Chile address rural concerns in the National Congress and examine the language used in discussions by the Committee on Water Resources. We argue that there is a disconnect between rural citizenship and the Chilean parliamentary system. This detachment is driven by a form of neoliberal democracy that permits only formal and low-impact citizen participation and excludes rural issues or territorial particularities from discussions. This, in turn, promotes fragmented and clientelist citizen practices in these areas

Citizenship · Economic growth · Economics · Empirical research · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Latin American Cultural Politics · Latin American socio-political dynamics · Law · Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America · Public Administration