Gobierno local y ejercicio del poder. Una aproximación desde la participación institucionalizada de la ciudadanía de Córdoba (Argentina).

This paper addresses the relationship between Local Government (LG) and the exercise of political participation; from an approximation to justifications about the relevance of this level. Two perspectives are developed according to how the participation of citizens is positioned in these justifications. The first refers to the intrinsic values attributed to the GL, and the second refers to the socializing process in political-institutional terms. From this approach it is possible to question the existence of a participatory pattern -both electoral and nonelectoral- that differentiates GL from the provincial and national levels. Approaches to this question are approximated from empirical evidence provided by two types of sources. On the one hand, studies that analyze the political involvement in the city of Córdoba considering electoral and non-electoral dimensions, including the involvement in institutions designed under a participatory conception of democracy. And on the other, official and journalistic data on electoral participation in the three levels of government. This strategy makes it possible, in turn, to assess the strength of Local Government to carry out democratic principles and to develop an active citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]