Does participation generate democratization? Analysis of social participation by institutional means in Argentine, Brazilian and Uruguayan foreign policies

ABSTRACT

The article questions if the participation of civil society actors in foreign policy making would lead to the democratization of foreign policy processes. The analysis is based on the comparison of three foreign policy participatory initiatives – the Civil Society Consultative Council, the Social and Participative Mercosur Programme and the Dialogue and Consultation System – which currently take place in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, respectively. The hypothesis to be tested is that participatory institutions modify representation in foreign policy by breaking with the monopoly of the diplomatic bureaucracy in foreign policy making on regional integration. For that, we develop a comprehensive model based on social participation indicators and assess the specifics of each participatory initiative by mobilizing documental sources and conducting face-to-face interviews with key actors for each initiative. We ultimately find that the democratic nature is rather correlated with the institutional design adopted by the participatory initiative under scrutiny.

KEYWORDS:

• Foreign policy
• participation
• democracy
• South America

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Lucas Mesquita http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2756-7125

Dawisson Belém Lopes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1949-1001

Notes

1. Even being a global movement, the pluralization and politicization of foreign policy does not necessarily generate a pattern of ‘foreign policy democratization.’ (See Lopes, 2012).

2. We mean by ‘civil society’ the social movement representatives, non-governmental organizations, labour unions, company entities, nongovernmental experts – as academics and analysts – and networks and partnership forms resulting from the grouping and interactions of civil society members.

3. Created by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay on March 26, 1991 through the Treaty of Asunción, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) is a regional integration bloc in South America. Initially created with the objective of strict commercial integration, mainly through the free movement of goods, services and productive factors and the establishment of a Common External Tariff (TEC), the bloc during the 2000s enlarged the integration agenda to encompass political and social issues. Currently, it is made up by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela as full members, and Bolivia as a state who undergoes the admission process at the moment, while Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Suriname strike as associated states. The article focuses on Argentine, Brazilian, and Uruguayan initiatives. Our research found no initiatives of the kind in Paraguay and Venezuela.

4. We understand as a ‘regulated pattern of interaction that is known, practiced and accepted (although not necessarily approved) by actors who expect to continue interacting under the norms sanctioned and guaranteed by this pattern’ O'Donnell (1996).

5. For a deeper discussion on the influence of institutional designs on participation (see Fung & Wright, 2001).

6. In the case of PMSP, official documents were used provided by the General-Secretariat of the Presidency at the official website and through the Access to Information Act to request PSMP meeting minutes, reports and convocations. In the case of CCSC and SDC, the main documental sources were the official electronic websites. In the Uruguayan case we also use documents made available by the website of the Agencia para el Desarollo de Gobierno de Gestion Electronica y la Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (Agency for the Governmental Development of Electronic Management and the Information and Knowledge Society, AGESIC). In both cases requests were made through the specific channels for access to information, but we did not obtain responses in the attempts made.

7. We opted for semi-structured interviews that sought to understand basic factors for the article: the history of organs’ creation, the organizational structure, the selection dynamics of the participants, the interaction formats between civil society and government, aspects of the internal decision-making process, and agenda setting, conduct of debates, voting system.

8. These demands were made by actors who had taken part in actions at the regional level. At the head of the process were the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (DIIESE), the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP), the Federation of Organs for Social and Educational Assistance (FASE), the National Confederation of Rural Workers (CONTAG) – that is, the organizations that made up the Executive Secretariat of the World Social Forum during its first three editions, in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

9. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2011, and was elected as a Workers' Party member. His first term lasted from 2003, 1 January to 2007, 1 January

10. Available at http://www.participa.br/integrasul/programa-mercosul-social-e-participativo-pmsp/minuta-de-portaria-para-regulamentar-o-pmsp-em-consulta/minuta-da-portaria-que-regulamenta-o-pmsp. Accessed on 30 March 2017.

11. Draft proposes an organizational structure for the PMSP with the Plenary as an organ of interaction between society and government, a Coordination jointly exercised by the General-Secretariat of the Presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an Executive Secretariat exercised jointly by the International Advisor of General-Secretariat of the Presidency, by the Director of the Mercosur Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a representative from the Mercosur Economic and Social Consultative Forum.

12. Interventions of civil society members were reduced to thirty minutes of Q&A in reaction to lectures delivered by governmental officials, and restricted to a morning session of one day in the conference, what seemed quite symptomatic of this condition.

13. According to the Informative Material: Meeting of the Mercosur Social and Participatory Programme provided by International Advisory Service.

14. Prado (2014). Prado was the Head of International Advisory Office of the Presidency’s General-Secretariat in 2014.

15. According to Fernando Prado, after the summit in Caracas, there was a need to reformulate and re-discuss the focal group, mainly due to the repeated criticism of civil society (Iddh, 2012) toward its coordination mechanism, its role as a negotiator, and the criteria adopted for choice of organizations, mandate and prerogatives. Please (see Prado, 2014). Prado was the Head of the International Advisory Office of the Presidency’s General-Secretariat in 2014.

16. Available at http://www.inesc.org.br/noticias/noticias-do-inesc/2012/outubro/cupula-social-do-mercosul-sera-realizada-em-brasilia. Accessed on 8 July 2017.

17. Interview with Camila Asano, Coordinator of foreign policy and human rights at Conectas Human Rights on 5 November 2015.

18. The average of 11.53 was established except for the year 2011, since there were no meetings of the Programme that year.

19. Productive Integration; Strategic Plan for Social Action; Social Institute of Mercosur; Micro and Small Business Forum and Small Business Enterprises of Mercosur; Functioning of the Brazilian Social and Participative Mercosur Council; Mercosur in the current south American context; International Mercosur trade negotiations in Aladi region and Migration Agreements in Mercosur

20. Forward proposals and suggestions that achieve consensus, in the scope of discussions done with civil society organizations

21. In this case the triangle takes on the vertices President-Council of Ministers-Parliament. Luzuriaga (2015).

22. Interview with Pedro Schinca, International Advisor of the Ministry of Social Development, on 24 June 2016.

23. Interview with Daiana Ferraro, Uruguayan Government official, on 28 June 2016. Daiana Ferraro was responsible for drafting and negotiating the SDC decree as an employee of the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry.

24. Article 1 of the Decree establishes: ‘Créase el Sistema de Diálogo y Consulta (SDC) entre el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y las Organizaciones sociales, cuyos objetivos estratégicos serán: I. Crear ámbitos institucionalizados de participación para el intercambio de información, opinión y diálogo entre la ciudadanía y el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, promoviendo una mejora en la eficacia, eficiência y efectividad de la política exterior; II. Ampliar el control ciudadano de las acciones desarrolladas por el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. Este objetivo abre el espacio a la fiscalización ciudadana y al acercamiento del ciudadano a la política exterior, generando un llamado al compromiso de la ciudadanía a ejercer una supervisión responsable de la política exterior’.

25. Available at <http://sdc.mrree.gub.uy/sites/default/files/archivos/SDC%20invitaci%C3%B3n%20para%20el%2016%20dic%202015-autorizada%202.pdf.> Accessed on 26 March 2017.

26. ‘We agree to strongly encourage the active participation of civil society in the process of regional integration, strengthening existing bodies as well as initiatives that can contribute to complementation, association and wide and plural dialogue’.

27. REIPS was linked to the structure of Argentine Chancellery by Subcretaria de Integracion Económica Americana y Mercosul (SUBIE).

28. Interview with Hugo Varsky, Argentine diplomat, on 2 August 2016.

29. Idem, ibid.

30. Idem, ibid.

31. Interview with Alejandro Masseilot, Coordinator of Comisión de Cultura do CCSC, on 16 July 2016.

32. Interview with Hugo Varsky, Argentine diplomat, on 2 August 2016. According to the ambassador, CCSC is a “plural, non-partisan but political space” which generates a targeted choice of social organizations in relation to certain objectives.

33. Interview with Luis Quici, Coordinator of Comisión de Personas Adultas Mayores of CCSC, on 24 July 2016.

34. Interview with Alejandro Masseilot, Coordinator of Comisión de Cultura of CCSC, on 16 July 2016.

35. Ibid.

36. Interview with Alejandro Masseilot, Coordinator of Comisión de Cultura of CSC, on 16 July 2016 and with Luis Quici, Coordinator of Comisión de Personas Adultas Mayores of CCSC, on 24 July 2016.

37. Mauricio Macri is the current President of Argentina. His term started in December 2015.