Paper short abstract:

Between 2014 and 2017, a national program for local development in indigenous communities in Chile was redesigned using a bottom up methodology. This approach had tangible consequences by recognizing indigenous communities' worldviews regarding own communities' development processes.

Paper long abstract:

One of the main challenges for development in Latin America is related to the welfare of indigenous communities. In particular, it is necessary to promote policies that generate empowerment processes to improve their quality of life, considering their own ideas of development. In this article we present a detailed study-case, with a focus on policy design from the implementation perspective. We argue that the mechanisms used for policy design have impacts on the policy itself, but also in the relationship between the state and citizens.

Between 2014 and 2017, a national program for local development in indigenous communities in Chile was redesigned using a bottom up methodology. More than a hundred workshops were conducted, and 2,100 indigenous leaders were consulted, an unprecedented way in Chile of working between state and indigenous people, and with citizens in general. This approach had consequences by recognizing indigenous communities' agency, as well as their worldviews regarding their own communities' development processes. Our results explain how the emphasis placed in co-responsibility over this program's resources translated into a more significant participation of the beneficiaries in the decisions involved, making them active agents in the development process of their communities.