Representative democracy and deliberative democracy A theoretical analysis based on the process of restructuring the gas tariffs in Argentina

Abstract

In this article we expose the first crisis of the recent government of Mauricio Macri due to the judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation regarding the policies of adjustment in energy rates. In a context of depreciated rates of the public services, subsidized by the Argentine State, the increase to the the gas rates ordered by the Ministry of Energy and Mining was prosecuted by different user associations for non-compliance, mainly , one of the most valued postulates in current open government policies: citizen participation in public policies.

After a theoretical development that explains the change in recent years concerning the values and presupposition of the representative democracy towards the deliberative democracy, we will analyze the context that led to the increase of the rates, the absence of participative policies and the considerations of the Ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

We conclude that public hearing, as a mechanism, is not a mere formal requirement, but is substantial to consolidate democratic models in crisis.