PUBLIC MANAGEMENT OF THE PAST: PARTICIPATION IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CORDOBA

Abstract

An examination of past participation in public management at the local level invites consideration of a range of processes, spanning from globalization and its link to local development to decentralization, recentralization, interjurisdictional relations, shifts in the municipal agenda, and power dynamics in local governance. In this context, various studies raise a central question regarding whether local public administration is limited to being an adaptation or replication of the adjustment processes driven by national public administration reforms, or whether it constitutes, rather, an endogenous form of administration that promotes its own local development and public policy agenda (Paz, 2024).

In Argentina, local governments’ participation in public policy has garnered renewed attention, particularly following the political, economic, and social crisis of 2001 (Cravacuore, 2009), a period that saw the consolidation of a renewed interest in democratization processes and in establishing a closer relationship between the state and society. Within this framework, this study analyzes the characteristics of the Neighborhood Oral History Program (PHOB) of the Municipality of the City of Córdoba as an instrument of participation. First, we provide an overview of theoretical discussions regarding the role of local governments in territorial development, the shaping of the local agenda, and their role as formulators of participatory public policies based on neighborhood oral history. Second, we examine the diverse and often conflicting relationships between participation, public policy, and territory within the field of the social sciences. Next, the PHOB is characterized using the political-territorial model (Couto, Foglia, and Rofman, 2017) from its creation in 2004 to the present. Finally, suggestions are offered to strengthen the sustainability of the PHOB as a local policy.