by Iolanda Bianchi
In my recent article published in Policy & Politics, I take a journey through the burgeoning phenomenon known as ‘new municipalism’, a movement that is rapidly gaining traction as a powerful catalyst for injecting a breath of democratic air into local politics and policy-making.
At the heart of new municipalism’s democratisation strategy is the concept of public-common partnerships. These are not just any alliances, but deliberately formed partnerships between civil society organisations with a passion for social justice and local public institutions. The aim is clear: to empower these groups to take over and self-manage public goods and services. This approach is championed by proponents of the new municipalism, who see in these partnerships a democratising capacity that echoes ideologies from Marx and beyond, suggesting that self-management is tantamount to the practice of direct democracy. However, this perspective invites a nuanced critique that cautions us against oversimplifying the relationship between self-management and direct democracy.
My research sheds light on the complex path towards democratisation taken by public-common partnerships, particularly through the lens of the Citizen Assets programme in Barcelona. Spearheaded by the government of Barcelona en Comú, this programme sought to empower non-profit community organisations with the autonomy to self-manage public assets. However, the results of this endeavour paint a more complex picture: simply enabling these organisations to self-manage public services doesn’t automatically lead to democratisation, as it is far from equivalent to direct democracy. Instead, self-management turns out to be a form of non-electoral representation in which these organisations act as proxies for their wider community interests. This inherently representative arrangement can create tensions between inclusivity and exclusivity, leading to a spectrum of outcomes in the democratisation efforts of different initiatives.
To address these complexities, and inspired by the experiences of the Citizen Asset programme, my article proposes an integrated approach to democratisation within public-common partnerships. This strategy extends the scope of democratisation beyond the self-management phase and advocates a model that encompasses the entire policy cycle. In practice, the proposed approach calls for a democratisation of the self-management process itself, by ensuring that decision-making within non-profit community organisations is open and inclusive, and by the adoption of additional democratic practices throughout the policy process, including the co-production of policy design and democratic scrutiny.
The article makes a significant contribution to the field of democratic theory by framing this integrated approach as a ‘non-appropriable’ form of policy-making. This concept implies a shared sense of ownership of the policy process by all stakeholders, who collectively resist the temptation to exercise absolute control over it, thereby fostering a democratic ethos.
As new municipalism continues to evolve, its potential to reshape urban policy landscapes is enormous. Realising this potential, however, requires a pragmatic approach to democratisation that moves beyond idealised visions and closely examines the practicalities of democratising practices and their impact on the policy cycle.
You can read the original research in Policy & Politics at
Bianchi, I. (2024). The democratising capacity of new municipalism: beyond direct democracy in public–common partnerships. Policy & Politics (published online ahead of print 2024) from https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2024D000000033 [Open access]
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Caravantes, P., & Lombardo, E. (2024). Feminist democratic innovations in policy and politics. Policy & Politics, 52(2), 177-199 from https://doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2023D000000009 [Open access]
Liu, L., & Yen, W. (2024). Why do individuals in democratic societies support stringent policies? A narrative policy framework analysis. Policy & Politics (published online ahead of print 2024) from https://doi.org/10.1332/030557324X17049690476008
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