Transformations in Local Participatory Governance of Social Policy in Municipalities of Greater Buenos Aires in Pandemic Times

Abstract

The structuring of urban social policies in Greater Buenos Aires is increasingly oriented towards a decentralized governance model, with a management framework formed by the three levels of government in Argentina, and the participation of territorially based civil society at different times in the policy cycle. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the agenda and management processes of several urban social policies were altered. Considering this, this article addresses the question of how the pandemic has impacted local governance and, particularly, the development of participatory management mechanisms. We focus on three policy fields with long-standing participatory traditions: a) the promotion and protection of children's rights, a policy area where Local Councils for Children and Teenagers have emerged; b) the state response to the problem of popular habitat, which is the focus of the Local Habitat Councils; and c) the problem of gender violence, which is organized at the local level through intersectoral gender roundtables.