This Article Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Smith, H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Costa Rica’s Triangle of Solidarity: can government-led spaces for negotiation enhance the involvement of civil society in governance?

Centre for Environment and Human Settlements, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4ASH.C.Smith{at}sbe.hw.ac.uk

Initiatives in participatory governance can rise from the grassroots or be implemented by government, examples of the latter being particularly notable in Latin America. This paper considers the scope and limitations of spaces of negotiation opened up from above, examining one particular initiative undertaken in Costa Rica between 1998 and 2002, the Triangle of Solidarity, which involved the state (central and local) and civil society, and the relationships between them. Taking an institutionalist approach, a detailed study of two urban neighbourhoods is used to assess the extent to which this initiative offered a new opportunity for political inclusion and enabled a redistribution of resources. In practice, there appears to have been little substantive change in the roles and position of central and local government, and civil society. This raises questions about the processes that are likely to lead to participatory governance, and emphasizes the importance of the weaker groups in negotiating and fighting for a transfer of power, and thus in shaping the spaces for negotiation central to urban management.

Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 16, No. 1, 63-78 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/095624780401600106


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Post and S. Mwangi Constraints on Neighbourhood Activism: Experiences with Services Upgrading in Nakuru, Kenya Urban Stud, March 1, 2009; 46(3): 665 - 686. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Kjellstrom and S. Mercado Towards action on social determinants for health equity in urban settings Environment and Urbanization, October 1, 2008; 20(2): 551 - 574. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Hume The Myths of Violence: Gender, Conflict, and Community in El Salvador Latin American Perspectives, September 1, 2008; 35(5): 59 - 76. [Abstract] [PDF]