Comunicación, participación ciudadana y Gobierno abierto: El caso del Gobierno de Costa Rica
Fecha
2022-03-03
Autores
Hütt Herrera, Harold
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Resumen
La presente investigación analiza la incidencia que han tenido las políticas y estrategias de comunicación y participación ciudadana en el desarrollo de políticas públicas, en el marco de la Estrategia Nacional para un Gobierno abierto en Costa Rica, durante el período 2014-2019.
Lo anterior, bajo la premisa de que los procesos dialógicos entre el Gobierno y la ciudadanía se construyen a través de estrategias de comunicación y bajo una adecuada articulación de esfuerzos con los diversos grupos de interés, y con la ciudadanía en general.
Asimismo, se ha tomado en consideración que las políticas públicas deben obedecer a procesos participativos de movilización social donde se consideren las expectativas y necesidades de la población.
La metodología utilizada es de carácter analítico, bajo un enfoque cualitativo con apoyo de herramientas cuantitativas, partiendo de la propuesta de análisis de caso, dadas las implicaciones de la geolocalización y la temporalidad en los referentes histórico, político, cultural y social.
Los aportes generados por la investigación se consideran relevantes, dado que el modelo de Gobierno abierto aún es incipiente, por lo que continuamente se están generando nuevos conocimientos y experiencias en el marco de su implementación.
Costa Rica ha logrado significativos avances en materia de normas y políticas gubernamentales para el impulso de este modelo, en concordancia con las pautas de los diversos organismos internacionales que se han venido involucrando en el impulso de esta nueva forma de Gobierno, como es el caso del Open Government Partnership (OGP) la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO), la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO), la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) y la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE).
No obstante, el proceso aún implica significativas limitaciones y desafíos. La carencia de recursos, la sobrecarga de funciones en el equipo de gestión y los cambios en cargos políticos han dificultado que el proceso pueda prosperar de manera idónea, aunque los resultados han sido notorios en materia de trasparencia y de acceso a información, lo que se ha logrado con iniciativas como es el caso de Gobierno Digital, la Red Institucional de Trasparencia y la Red de Oficiales de Información en las instituciones públicas.
Pese a lo anterior, el eje de participación ciudadana aún se encuentra en un estado incipiente, siendo que se ha visto limitado a un grupo de organizaciones preestablecidas -en su mayoría-, con las cuales se ha iniciado una articulación básica de esfuerzos en términos de información, capacitación y actividades de co-creación.
Tomando en consideración los elementos anteriormente expuestos, y a pesar de los esfuerzos realizados, es necesario indicar que aún se está lejos de contar con mecanismos idóneos de participación ciudadana para el análisis profundo de temas de interés nacional, para el desarrollo de esfuerzos catalizadores en la toma de decisiones y para la construcción conjunta de políticas públicas.
Si bien es cierto el país sigue siendo uno de los pioneros en esta materia, es necesario contar con un mayor compromiso político en términos de dotación de recursos y respaldo institucional, en procura de facilitar las condiciones necesarias para el adecuado desarrollo de los tres ejes medulares del modelo de Gobierno abierto: transparencia, rendición de cuentas y participación ciudadana.
This research analyzes the incidence of communication and citizen participation policies and strategies on the public policies development, within the framework of the National Strategy for an Open Government in Costa Rica, during the 2014-2019 period. The preceding, under the premise that the dialog processes among the Government and the citizenry are built through communication strategies, under accurate articulation efforts with groups of interest, as well as the citizenry in general. Likewise, it has been taken into consideration that public policies must be built since participative social mobilization processes consider the population’s expectations and needs. The methodology used is analytic, under a qualitative approach with the support of quantitative tools, using the Case Analyzes perspective, taking into account the implications of the geolocation and temporality of the historical, political, cultural, and social references. The contributions generated by this research are considered relevant because the Open Government Model is still incipient, so new knowledge and experiences are continually being generated within the framework of its implementation. Costa Rica has made significant progress in government regulations and policies to promote the Open Government Model. Per the guidelines of the most well recognized international organizations that have been working on this initiative, like the Open Government Partnership (OGP), The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE). Nevertheless, the lack of resources, the overload of functions in the management team, and constant changes in the political staff have made it difficult for this process can prosper as expected. Even though results have been notoriously transparent and ease of access to information, what has been obtained is thanks to initiatives like the Digital Government Strategy, The Institutional Network of Transparency, and the Information Officer Network on the public institutions. Despite the previous, the axis of citizen participation is still in an incipient state, taking into consideration that the effort articulation has been limited to previously organized groups -on its majority-, with which ones it has been coordinating a basic articulation in terms of information campaigns, training process, and co-creation activities. Taking into consideration the elements exposed, and despite the efforts made, it is necessary to point out that the country is still far from having a suitable mechanism of citizen participation in order to promote the in-depth analyzes of national interest issues, to promote catalyzing efforts on the decision-making and to promote collaborative and participative efforts to develop public policies. Although the country continues to be one of the pioneers on this matter, it is necessary to have a more significant political commitment in terms of allocation of the resources and institutional support in order to facilitate the necessary conditions for adequate development of the three core axes of the Open Government Model: Transparency, Accountability, and Citizen Participation.
This research analyzes the incidence of communication and citizen participation policies and strategies on the public policies development, within the framework of the National Strategy for an Open Government in Costa Rica, during the 2014-2019 period. The preceding, under the premise that the dialog processes among the Government and the citizenry are built through communication strategies, under accurate articulation efforts with groups of interest, as well as the citizenry in general. Likewise, it has been taken into consideration that public policies must be built since participative social mobilization processes consider the population’s expectations and needs. The methodology used is analytic, under a qualitative approach with the support of quantitative tools, using the Case Analyzes perspective, taking into account the implications of the geolocation and temporality of the historical, political, cultural, and social references. The contributions generated by this research are considered relevant because the Open Government Model is still incipient, so new knowledge and experiences are continually being generated within the framework of its implementation. Costa Rica has made significant progress in government regulations and policies to promote the Open Government Model. Per the guidelines of the most well recognized international organizations that have been working on this initiative, like the Open Government Partnership (OGP), The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE). Nevertheless, the lack of resources, the overload of functions in the management team, and constant changes in the political staff have made it difficult for this process can prosper as expected. Even though results have been notoriously transparent and ease of access to information, what has been obtained is thanks to initiatives like the Digital Government Strategy, The Institutional Network of Transparency, and the Information Officer Network on the public institutions. Despite the previous, the axis of citizen participation is still in an incipient state, taking into consideration that the effort articulation has been limited to previously organized groups -on its majority-, with which ones it has been coordinating a basic articulation in terms of information campaigns, training process, and co-creation activities. Taking into consideration the elements exposed, and despite the efforts made, it is necessary to point out that the country is still far from having a suitable mechanism of citizen participation in order to promote the in-depth analyzes of national interest issues, to promote catalyzing efforts on the decision-making and to promote collaborative and participative efforts to develop public policies. Although the country continues to be one of the pioneers on this matter, it is necessary to have a more significant political commitment in terms of allocation of the resources and institutional support in order to facilitate the necessary conditions for adequate development of the three core axes of the Open Government Model: Transparency, Accountability, and Citizen Participation.
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Palabras clave
Participación ciudadana, Fortalecimiento democrático, Transparencia, Gestión Pública, Contrapesos, PARTICIPACIÓN POLÍTICA