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Citizen participation shifts the relationships based on power as it involves sharing it with those who generally do not have access to it. It promotes a transformation in governance as it addresses the shortcomings of representativity that citizens perceive directly to achieve changes. These power relations are mediated by various interests. The State must be a mediator and seek balance between two predominant groups: the economic sector (center) and the general citizenry (periphery). The situation becomes complicated when the dominant subject pressures to achieve its interests to the point of considering the territories from which they extract resources as colonies, inhibiting the right to participate. The path forward is to explain the phenomenon and propose, through legal instruments, the protection of effective participation. For understanding, we rely on Immanuel Wallerstein (System-word) and Aníbal Quijano (colonialidad).
