La incidencia del plebiscito por la paz en el fortalecimiento de la democracia participativa en Colombia

Abstract

In 2016, Colombia suffered a plebiscite on thanks of President Juan Manuel Santos, who chose this citizen participation mechanism to endorse the Havana Agreements, the product of a negotiation that had lasted four years with the FARC guerrillas. This episode took place on October 2 of that year, when citizens faced the following question at the polls: "Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and build a stable and lasting peace?" This question in the population a polarization between those who defended and supported the peace agreement and those who did not, taking sides for one or another voting option, that is, for YES and NO respectively. The results obtained from the electoral contest that took place that day were totally unexpected, not only because of the victory of the least expected option, but also because of how even that contest was, demonstrating that the country, after making such a decision, had been politically divided. and ideologically in two parts, that is, national unity was once again in suspense, which is not surprising in a country like Colombia, which has lived in a cycle of permanent violence that seems to have no end. This polarization left an active citizenry in motion, since they have sat down to deliberate, expressing their political ideas and materializing their positions in the elections that have taken place since then. That is why it is necessary for this investigation to determine how the Plebiscite for Peace influenced the strengthening of participatory democracy in Colombia? The events experienced after the Plebiscite for Peace would allow us to glimpse that the country is not the same, finding a citizenry more interested in the political and social issues that have arisen within the country, for which constant criticism and reflection is generated regarding these events that occur in national events. In this sense, it is possible to affirm that the plebiscite for peace has had an impact on the strengthening of participatory democracy in Colombia. Thus, this research will focus on determining how participatory democracy has been strengthened as a result of this plebiscite.