Participatory decision-making in the policy integration process: indigenous consultation and sustainable development in Mexico

Israel Solorio (), Jorge Guzmán and Ixchel Guzmán
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Israel Solorio: National Autonomous University of Mexico
Jorge Guzmán: National Autonomous University of Mexico
Ixchel Guzmán: National Autonomous University of Mexico

Policy Sciences, 2023, vol. 56, issue 1, No 8, 115-140

Abstract: Abstract This article explores the role of participation by indigenous peoples in Latin America in the political process of Environmental Policy Integration (EPI). Although the benefits of participation have been largely taken for granted, this article shows that participation makes the policy integration process even more complex. By selecting two cases of clean energy infrastructure projects (a wind power plant and a natural gas pipeline) in Mexico, whose policy processes included an indigenous consultation, this article traces the competing problem definitions in public policy debates and the resulting policy frame in relation to sustainable development. The goal is to assess the ways that indigenous consultation functions as a procedural EPI instrument aimed at boosting participation from a public that is largely composed by indigenous communities in the decision-making stage. This article contributes to the existing literature on policy integration in two ways: (1) it explores the role of participation by non-state actors in the policy integration process, especially in highly politicized policy areas such as energy and the environment, and (2) it identifies the limitations of applicability of policy integration literature, particularly in contexts where state–society interactions are radically different compared to Western countries, including Latin American countries inhabited by indigenous groups.

Keywords: Policy integration; Indigenous consultation; Environmental Policy Integration; Sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11077-022-09487-x

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