Gaps in rural participation in the parliamentary process: An empirical contribution to understanding rural citizenship in Chile

Abstract

Studies on citizen participation in politics have tended to focus on voters and electoral processes at the national level, and little consideration has been given to the particularities of rural territories or the parliamentary legislative process as a space for citizen participation. In this article, we analyse how representatives of a rural electoral district in Chile address rural concerns in the National Congress and examine the language used in discussions by the Committee on Water Resources. We argue that there is a disconnect between rural citizenship and the Chilean parliamentary system. This detachment is driven by a form of neoliberal democracy that permits only formal and low-impact citizen participation and excludes rural issues or territorial particularities from discussions. This, in turn, promotes fragmented and clientelist citizen practices in these areas.