Open Parliament in Latin America.

BY LINA TAFUR

Latin American countries are undergoing a process to develop open democracy initiatives within their governments. These can be followed up and analyzed through ParlAmericas, is an independent forum that promotes parliamentary diplomacy composed by the national legislatures of the Member States of the Organization of the American States. ParlAmericas promotes openness by guiding State’s objectives through four pillars: transparency, accountability, citizen participation, and ethics and probity. The organization observes States’ processes but does not assert any real power on their decisions or defines their priorities, which gives them liberty to decide the urgency of the projects and progress at their own pace (1).

On of the participatory tools that have been adopted by governments is the use of digital platforms to instil transparency and accountability within governments, normally as a result of the legislative process. For instance, in Uruguay and Argentina, whose legislative branches are obliged by law to publish several reports pertaining legislators’ pay sheet, their expenses, and the structure of the national congress (2) (3). There are other initiatives that can be placed under transparency and accountability, but which also integrate citizen participation, such as the mobile app “Mi Senado”, an effort from the Colombian congress. Through the app users can connect with senators, check for their attendance rate, and vote on the agenda and bills of the day, which in turn is displayed in the plenary for senators to consider when voting.

However, just as there has been progress made, much simpler processes do not seem to be democratized throughout the region specifically with regards to the pillar of ethics and probity (4). As an example, Chile has been the only country to implement a law that regulates lobbying and communication between special interest groups and government officials (5). It was their political will which led them to the creation of a public registry of lobbying that is available on the government’s platform. All in all, there is a general interest from governments to increase and incorporate open democracy in their current mode of work, nonetheless there has to be a stronger political will and sense of urgency from their behalf.

As mentioned previously, Latin American states are not obliged to follow the legislative program that is promoted by ParlAmericas. Hence, without any outside pressure, the lack of political will within the legislative and executive branches has backfired. At this very moment, Latin American nations are flooding the streets to show their discomfort with governments that have historically avoided transparency and responsiveness, central pillars of open democracy, discrediting governmental institutions. As a response, governments have quickly opened dialogue and created channels with which they can entertain citizen participation and accountability. I am a firm believer that it is never too late to open dialogue, however the time of social and political crisis that is facing the region is only rushing processes, many times through populist solutions as politicians give-in to promises that compromise the future of the countries’ economic and social stability (6). This will be a lesson for political parties throughout the region, and we will be seeing more open democracy programs with constitutional reforms, digital government strategies and increasingly participatory initiatives within candidates’ agendas.

References
(1) ParlAmericas — ParlAmericas. Accessed on December 1, 2019. https://www.parlamericas.org/en.aspx
(2) Informes s/Ley No 5. 189/14 — Honorable Cámara de Senadores. Accessed on December 1, 2019. http://www.senado.gov.py/index.php/ley-5189-14/106-informe-ley-5189
(3) Portal de Datos Publicos en Formato Abierto — Diputados Argentina. Accessed on December 1, 2019. https://datos.hcdn.gob.ar/
(4) Ethics and Probity — ParlAmericas. Accessed on December 1, 2019. https://www.parlamericas.org/en/resources/commitment-tool.aspx?/pillar/ethics
(5) Plataforma Ley del Lobby — Gobierno de Chile. Accessed on December 1, 2019. https://www.leylobby.gob.cl/

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