ELLA Policy Brief: Multi-actor Dialogues for Better Public Policies: Lessons from Latin America
ELLA is the Evidence and Lessons from Latin America programme
Abstract
During the past twenty years, multi-actor dialogues have played an important part in the consolidation of democratic processes in Latin America and in increasing the participation of organised sectors of civil society in defining and overseeing public policies. To explore how these dialogues have worked in Latin America, this Brief focuses on three emblematic multi-actor dialogues in Latin America, coming from Argentina, Peru and Mexico, that are representative of the variety of political systems present in the region. The Brief highlights the methodological and contextual factors that influenced their success and identifies best practices that have the potential to be replicated in other regions of the world.
Key Lessons:
Those core actors promoting multi-actor dialogues must include a wide range of stakeholders and have gained legitimacy in the eyes of participants, as this is indispensable for creating an environment of open communication and collaboration. The role of intermediary actors that have high political capital creates the potential for substantive decisions and effective medium-term implementation.
Formulating national policies on complex topics, such as security, requires working through coalitions that are effectively able to redefine key questions, shift the terms of debate and establish new common points of convergence to transcend previously polarised discussions.
For participants to commit themselves to the dialogue in place, the agenda set must be able to influence formal decision making processes. To have lasting effects, it must be able to link the results or outcomes of the dialogue to concrete results.
Citation
FUNDAR. ELLA Policy Brief: Multi-actor Dialogues for Better Public Policies: Lessons from Latin America. ELLA, Practical Action Consulting, Lima, Peru (2012) 6 pp.