Text and video by Triin Ilves
Mexico City is often associated with culture. It is both the social and economical centre of the country. However, only 15% of Mexicans think that a democracy is a system where everyone collaborates.
In the OGP Global Summit 2016, two young political scientists – Bernardo Rivera and Diego Cuesy – presented their project: a platform for participation. Discussing the various ways of how to engage more citizens and outcomes of their initial stage, the two men gave a short interview for Orange Magazine.
When asked, what was the biggest change they saw in people’s mindset, both replied that they were able to show, that government is not just an anonymous institution, but actual people working together.
BR: “We saw that with the agreement with change.org. People trusted more the change.org than they trusted Mexico city’s government, but through the human bond we established that they became to trust Mexican government.”
DC: “One example is one petition maker, very passionate, saw that she could get to a middle ground, because the improvement related to her petition was also tied to our success. And our success meant not necessarily what she wanted. And since we were now connected, she was more open to engage into the nuances of that.”
