Opportunities for participation in the policies of municipal social services in Spain

Resumen

The article presents an analysis and systematic evaluation of the opportunities for citizen participation in the public policies of social wellbeing at the local level in Spain and their actual impact on the design, implementation, execution and evaluation of public policies of social wellbeing at the municipal level. The results of the investigation, between 2004 and 2012, permit, first, to present the type of offer diverse opportunities for participation in the regional level of social wellbeing in Spain and then identity, from its participants, dimensions that help to improve efficiency of public wellbeing policies at the municipal level by intensifying processes of democratization. The results show little opportunity to participate and if more formal than real, not to favor the possibility of an exercise of power or actual impact on the design, implementation and evaluation of municipal social policies.