Saber técnico, poder institucional: sistematización de una experiencia formativa en el congreso de la república en el periodo legislativo 2024-2

Abstract

This systematization analyzes the professional practice experience carried out at the Centro de Altos Estudios Legislativos (CAEL) of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia, within the framework of the Political Science and Government program. Its purpose was to critically reconstruct the institutional, formative, and methodological processes experienced, identifying the tensions between the ideal of rational bureaucracy —as proposed by Weber (1964)— and the real dynamics of legislative functioning. The methodological approach was qualitative, interpretive, and reflective, combining participant observation, documentary review, and critical systematization of experience. Analytical matrices and RAES records were used as tools for data collection and organization, analyzed through conceptual triangulation among empirical records and the theoretical frameworks of Weber, Ragin, Barragán & Torres, and Jara Holliday. The findings reveal that, although CAEL embodies a bureaucratic structure aimed at technical efficiency, informal hierarchies, disarticulated processes, and routine-based practices often limit interns’ autonomy and learning. Nevertheless, the systematization made it possible to recognize practice as a space for critical training, where reflection on experience becomes a tool for producing situated knowledge. In conclusion, the study shows how institutional configuration shapes political and technical formation while offering valuable insights into the relationship between knowledge, power, and bureaucracy within the Colombian legislative context.