La « parole des habitants » sous contrôle ? Compétition politique et participation citoyenne à Besançon et à Strasbourg

Abstract

This article deals with the impact of local political competition on participatory democracy. To what extent does political competition at local level shapes the production of ‘citizen participation’ in participatory arenas? What are the mechanisms through which the ‘citizen participation’ is framed or controlled by local representatives? To what extent do the political constraints on participatory democracy vary across different socio-political and institutional configurations? We suggest an answer to these questions on the basis of a comparison between participatory politics in Besançon and Strasbourg in 2008-2014.

Keywords

• participatory democracy
• representative democracy
• local politics
• Besançon
• Strasbourg