316:. As of 2022, the software defines two structures: "participatory spaces" and "participatory components". The participatory spaces (six as of early 2024) include "processes" (such as a participatory budget), "assemblies" (such as a citizens' association website), "conferences/meetings", "initiatives", and "consultations (voting/elections)". The participatory components (twelve as of early 2024) range from "comments", "proposals", "amendments", "votes" through to "accountability". Together these allow a wide flexibility in creating specific space–component combinations. The "accountability" component is used to monitor whether and how a project is executed.
349:(FOSS), a community of software developers, social activists, software consultancies, researchers, and administrative staff from municipal governments called Metadecidim was created for discussing and analysing Decidim experience and development. Metadecidim is seen as an intermediary component between the political level of Decidim, implemented on servers such as Barcelona Decidim, and the technical level of hosting the software source code and bug reporting structures. As of June 2023, Metadecidim had about 5000 registered participants.
962:
239:
186:
152:
115:
93:
75:
57:
38:
384:. Metadecidim's self-description as "technopolitical" is seen as implying that the political implications of designs and choices of software are seen as significant, in opposition to the view that software is "value neutral and objective". Metadecidim sees Decidim as a "recursively democratic infrastructure", in the sense that the software, political and server infrastructure is "both used and democratised by its community, the Metadecidim community".
132:
24:
472: 40,000. The project, named "Quartieridee", had 99 submissions of proposals and awarded funding to eight proposals. The researchers found that overall implementation was dependent on significant financial resources and citizens' voluntary work; and had difficulties due to the municipality lacking legal procedures for implementing the citizens' chosen projects.
504:, and deliberation (discussion of proposals) was studied by Rosa Borge and colleagues. It was found that the officials saw Decidim's role as primarily promoting transparency and the collecting of citizens' proposals, while having only a modest role in transferring decision-making to citizens and a minor role in encouraging online citizen debate.
479: 540,000. Among the successful projects was a confrontation between a citizens' association, "Linkes Seeufer fĂĽr Alle" opposed to a Kibag AG in relation to a plot of land owned by Kibag next to Lake Zurich. An effect of the Decidim networking was that citizens legally occupied the plot of land for several days.
319:
As of 2022, three user levels are defined: general visitors with view-only access; registered users who have several participation rights; and verified users who can participate in decision-making. Users may be individuals or represent associations or working groups within an organisation. Users with
499:
Based on nine in-depth interviews with officials responsible for
Decidim, conducted in 2018 in some of the initial municipalities that used Decidim, online interviews in March 2019 with officials from 34 municipalities using Decidim, and data from the Decidim servers, the effectiveness of Decidim in
514:
The Borge et al. study also found, consistently with other research, that the participatory aspect of citizens making proposals and participating in decisions was obstructed in some cases by local civil society associations, since direct citizen participation was seen to be in competition with the
439:
The two-month trial included both online and face-to-face participation. According to
Decidim, about 40% of the 39,000 individual participants did so face-to-face, and about 85% of the organisational participants did so face-to-face. There were about 11,000 proposals made on the Decidim server, of
296:
in 2016, running a fork of the "Consul" software, when a political party derived from the protest movement obtained political power. In early 2017, the server was switched to a similarly inspired, but new software project, Decidim, completely rewritten, aiming to be more modular and convenient for
403:
In 2022, Borge and colleagues estimated that there were 311 instances running
Decidim in Spain and in 19 other countries; while Borges and colleagues estimated that there were Decidim instances run by 80 local and regional governments and 40 citizens' associations in Spain and elsewhere. In 2023,
387:
Decidim proponents see the combination of online and offline participation as fundamental: "From its very conception until today, a distinguishing feature of
Decidim over other kinds of participatory democracy software ... was that of connecting digital processes directly with public meetings and
456:
in 2021 and 2022 was studied by Suter and colleagues, based on documentary evidence, interviews with 15 people in Zurich and 17 in
Lucerne ranging from municipality employees through to representatives of neighbourhood associations, and "participatory observations" (informal participatory events
356:
licences that may be used for
Decidim software; it defines requirements of transparency, traceability and integrity of content hosted by Decidim software; a goal of equal access to all users and democratic quality parameters to measure progress towards equality;
258:
political project and an organising community, "Metadecidim". Decidim participants describe the software, political and organising components as "technical", "political" and "technopolitical" levels, respectively. Decidim's aims can be seen as promoting the
515:
associations' roles. Several municipal governments worked on the implementation of
Decidim together with local associations, adding features to the software such as different weightings for proposals by individuals versus those by associations.
457:
observed by the researchers). The researchers found that the effectiveness of
Decidim varied significantly between the different cases, and argued that the "full potential" of Decidim had not yet been achieved in Switzerland.
330:, the software is intended to encourage both citizen and government interaction with each other and with decision-making power over the software itself, aiming at high levels of traceability and transparency.
271:
in municipal and regional governments and by citizens' associations in Spain, Switzerland and elsewhere. Studies of the use of
Decidim found that it was effective in some cases, while in one case implemented
490:
rather than overcoming it. Limitation of the language to German and lack of confidence in being able to participate effectively were found to be specific effects opposing the effectiveness of the project.
721:
361:; and it requires inter-institutional cooperation of institutions implementing instances of the software, in order to encourage further development. The free software licensing is the
440:
which about 8000 were accepted. The execution of the proposals was monitored during the following four years, spending about 90% of the
Barcelona City Council's budget for 2016–2019.
486:. A top-down use of a Decidim server by the local administration, in which citizens' associations were encouraged to participate, was found by the researchers to strengthen the
395:
gave control of the Decidim trademark and code base to Decidim Association. The effect was to combine public funds with citizens' association control of decision-making.
676:
428:
for a two-month trial prior to 2017, in which 40,000 citizens discussed their own proposals and proposals made by the council. The Decidim software allowed
992:
982:
870:
637:
887:
Pablo Aragón; Andreas Kaltenbrunner; Antonio Calleja-López; Andrés Pereira; Arnau Monterde; Xabier E. Barandiaran; Vicenç Gómez (20 July 2017),
273:
796:
936:
404:
Suter and colleagues cited Decidim's own estimate of 400 city and regional governments and civil society institutions using Decidim. The
997:
977:
362:
212:
894:
617:
987:
293:
475:
The project was scaled up to the Zurich city level the following year with the name "Stadtidee" and a participatory budget of
352:
The Decidim community has a text called the Decidim Social Contract (DSC) that defines six guidelines. The DSC defines the
684:
429:
346:
327:
251:
405:
165:
518:
The use of Decidim and participatory processes was found to depend on electoral results in some cases: these ceased in
413:
143:
448:
In Switzerland, urban development has legal requirements in relation to citizen participation. Use of Decidim in
425:
392:
86:
535:
482:
In 2021, the LuzernNord area of Lucerne was an area with many migrants and people with low incomes, at risk of
366:
508:
465:
255:
68:
832:
409:
761:"Informative architectures and citizen participation: a comparative study between the digital platforms"
370:
220:
432:
discussion, labelling whether the initial comment on a proposal was negative, neutral or positive, and
608:
92:
74:
151:
114:
37:
433:
358:
56:
760:
918:
677:"Democratic disruption or continuity? Analysis of the Decidim Platform in Catalan municipalities"
854:
780:
705:
607:
Xabier E. Barandiaran; Antonio Calleja LĂłpez; Arnau Monterde; Carol Romero (19 January 2024),
377:
260:
928:
898:
862:
844:
788:
772:
713:
697:
689:
629:
621:
301:
206:
890:
Deliberative Platform Design: The Case Study of the Online Discussions in Decidim Barcelona
250:
describes itself as a "technopolitical network for participatory democracy". It combines a
556:
501:
268:
185:
961:
831:
Aline Suter; Lars Kaiser; Martin Dušek; Florin Hasler; Simone Tappert (16 January 2024).
238:
833:"Digital Rights to the City: Local Practices and Negotiations of Urban Space on Decidim"
523:
487:
483:
381:
281:
264:
971:
391:
Organisationally, the community formally established Decidim Association in 2019 and
353:
326:
The Decidim software development strategy is intended to be modular and scalable. As
313:
199:
464:
in Zurich, two local citizens' associations used a server running Decidim to run a
50:
675:
Rosa Borge Bravo; Joan Balcells Padullés; Albert Padró-Solanet Grau (4 May 2022).
602:
600:
598:
596:
594:
320:
special privileges are called "administrators", "moderators" and "collaborators".
592:
590:
588:
586:
584:
582:
580:
578:
576:
574:
476:
469:
776:
693:
625:
858:
784:
709:
932:
902:
866:
792:
717:
633:
461:
754:
131:
23:
752:
750:
748:
746:
744:
742:
740:
738:
736:
734:
519:
216:
701:
453:
277:
267:. As of 2023, Decidim instances were actively in use for participatory
849:
449:
174:
826:
888:
824:
822:
820:
818:
816:
814:
812:
810:
808:
806:
507:
Several municipalities' use of Decidim provided their first use of
670:
376:
Philosophically, the aims of Decidim can be seen as promoting the
668:
666:
664:
662:
660:
658:
656:
654:
652:
650:
610:
Decidim, a Technopolitical Network for Participatory Democracy
334:
759:
Eli Borges Junior; Bruno Madureira Ferreira (November 2022).
538:(Decidim sees itself as opposed to technological utopianism)
913:
911:
882:
880:
323:
As of 2022, four versions of Decidim had been released.
369:
is used for content; and "data" is published under the
955:
232:
105:
226:
205:
195:
164:
142:
100:
82:
64:
46:
30:
893:, International Conference on Social Informatics,
292:A server called "Decidim" was created by the
8:
345:In the spirit of the Decidim software being
304:word meaning "let's decide" or "we decide".
124:
16:
960:
237:
184:
150:
130:
123:
113:
91:
73:
55:
36:
15:
848:
500:terms of transparency, participation in
254:(FOSS) software package together with a
548:
939:from the original on 2 September 2024
7:
294:15M anti-austerity movement in Spain
873:from the original on 11 June 2024.
799:from the original on 22 July 2024.
727:from the original on 29 June 2024.
526:lost power as Mayor in June 2018.
14:
643:from the original on 13 June 2024
363:GNU Affero General Public License
335:application programming interface
297:development by a wide community.
993:Ethics of science and technology
983:Free software programmed in Ruby
424:A Decidim server was run by the
300:The name "Decidim" comes from a
22:
17:Decidim (sociopolitical network)
895:Springer Science+Business Media
618:Springer Science+Business Media
365:(AGPL) version 3 for code; the
337:(API) for command line access.
1:
920:Decidim's Social Contract
685:American Behavioral Scientist
347:free and open-source software
333:Decidim software provides an
252:free and open-source software
406:Open University of Catalonia
414:University of Caen Normandy
1014:
777:10.18617/LIINC.V18I2.6058
694:10.1177/00027642221092798
626:10.1007/978-3-031-50784-7
426:City Council of Barcelona
393:City Council of Barcelona
160:
138:
129:
87:City Council of Barcelona
21:
998:Philosophy of technology
978:Decision-making software
536:technological utopianism
988:Participatory democracy
509:participatory budgeting
416:ran Decidim instances.
341:Technopolitical project
69:participatory democracy
410:University of Bordeaux
280:, it strengthened the
371:Open Database License
221:Open Database License
495:Other municipalities
466:participatory budget
559:. 10 September 2024
155:/ 10 September 2024
126:
18:
444:Zurich and Lucerne
125:Decidim (software)
42:(8 years ago)
436:to participants.
420:Decidim Barcelona
380:, as proposed by
378:right to the city
263:, as proposed by
261:right to the city
245:
244:
122:
121:
1005:
964:
959:
958:
956:Official website
941:
940:
915:
906:
905:
884:
875:
874:
852:
850:10.17645/UP.7065
828:
801:
800:
765:Liinc em Revista
756:
729:
728:
726:
681:
672:
645:
644:
642:
615:
604:
569:
568:
566:
564:
557:"Release 0.29.0"
553:
367:CC BY-SA licence
241:
236:
235:
233:Official website
188:
183:
180:
178:
176:
154:
134:
127:
118:
117:
110:
107:
96:
95:
78:
77:
60:
59:
41:
40:
26:
19:
1013:
1012:
1008:
1007:
1006:
1004:
1003:
1002:
968:
967:
954:
953:
950:
945:
944:
917:
916:
909:
886:
885:
878:
830:
829:
804:
758:
757:
732:
724:
679:
674:
673:
648:
640:
613:
606:
605:
572:
562:
560:
555:
554:
550:
545:
532:
502:decision-making
497:
446:
422:
401:
343:
310:
290:
269:decision-making
231:
230:
191:
173:
156:
112:
104:
90:
72:
54:
35:
12:
11:
5:
1011:
1009:
1001:
1000:
995:
990:
985:
980:
970:
969:
966:
965:
949:
948:External links
946:
943:
942:
907:
876:
837:Urban Planning
802:
730:
646:
570:
547:
546:
544:
541:
540:
539:
531:
528:
524:Dolors Sabater
496:
493:
488:digital divide
484:gentrification
445:
442:
421:
418:
400:
399:Use of Decidim
397:
382:Henri Lefebvre
342:
339:
309:
306:
289:
286:
282:digital divide
265:Henri Lefebvre
243:
242:
228:
224:
223:
209:
203:
202:
197:
193:
192:
190:
189:
170:
168:
162:
161:
158:
157:
148:
146:
144:Stable release
140:
139:
136:
135:
120:
119:
102:
98:
97:
84:
80:
79:
66:
62:
61:
48:
44:
43:
32:
28:
27:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1010:
999:
996:
994:
991:
989:
986:
984:
981:
979:
976:
975:
973:
963:
957:
952:
951:
947:
938:
934:
930:
926:
922:
921:
914:
912:
908:
904:
900:
896:
892:
891:
883:
881:
877:
872:
868:
864:
860:
856:
851:
846:
842:
838:
834:
827:
825:
823:
821:
819:
817:
815:
813:
811:
809:
807:
803:
798:
794:
790:
786:
782:
778:
774:
770:
766:
762:
755:
753:
751:
749:
747:
745:
743:
741:
739:
737:
735:
731:
723:
719:
715:
711:
707:
703:
699:
695:
691:
687:
686:
678:
671:
669:
667:
665:
663:
661:
659:
657:
655:
653:
651:
647:
639:
635:
631:
627:
623:
619:
612:
611:
603:
601:
599:
597:
595:
593:
591:
589:
587:
585:
583:
581:
579:
577:
575:
571:
558:
552:
549:
542:
537:
534:
533:
529:
527:
525:
521:
516:
512:
510:
505:
503:
494:
492:
489:
485:
480:
478:
473:
471:
467:
463:
458:
455:
451:
443:
441:
437:
435:
431:
427:
419:
417:
415:
411:
407:
398:
396:
394:
389:
388:vice versa."
385:
383:
379:
374:
372:
368:
364:
360:
355:
354:free software
350:
348:
340:
338:
336:
331:
329:
324:
321:
317:
315:
314:Ruby on Rails
312:Decidim uses
307:
305:
303:
298:
295:
287:
285:
283:
279:
275:
270:
266:
262:
257:
256:participatory
253:
249:
240:
234:
229:
225:
222:
218:
214:
210:
208:
204:
201:
200:Ruby on Rails
198:
194:
187:
182:
172:
171:
169:
167:
163:
159:
153:
147:
145:
141:
137:
133:
128:
116:
109:
103:
99:
94:
88:
85:
81:
76:
70:
67:
63:
58:
52:
49:
45:
39:
33:
29:
25:
20:
924:
919:
889:
840:
836:
768:
764:
702:10609/144286
683:
609:
563:21 September
561:. Retrieved
551:
517:
513:
506:
498:
481:
474:
459:
447:
438:
434:notification
423:
402:
390:
386:
375:
359:data privacy
351:
344:
332:
325:
322:
318:
311:
299:
291:
247:
246:
149:0.29.0
83:Affiliations
51:organization
215:; content:
31:Established
972:Categories
933:Q130220771
903:Q128007080
867:Q128010739
793:Q128009986
718:Q128009236
634:Q128012134
543:References
213:GNU AGPLv3
211:software:
196:Written in
166:Repository
34:2016
859:2183-7635
785:1808-3536
771:: e6058.
710:1552-3381
468:to spend
462:Wipkingen
937:archived
929:Wikidata
927:, 2022,
899:Wikidata
871:Archived
863:Wikidata
797:Archived
789:Wikidata
722:Archived
714:Wikidata
638:archived
630:Wikidata
530:See also
520:Badalona
430:threaded
412:and the
308:Software
288:Creation
274:top-down
219:; data:
217:CC BY-SA
181:/decidim
179:/decidim
925:Decidim
454:Lucerne
302:Catalan
278:Lucerne
248:Decidim
227:Website
207:License
106:decidim
101:Website
931:
901:
865:
857:
791:
783:
716:
708:
632:
522:after
450:Zurich
408:, the
175:github
111:
89:
71:
53:
725:(PDF)
680:(PDF)
641:(PDF)
614:(PDF)
47:Types
855:ISSN
781:ISSN
706:ISSN
565:2024
452:and
328:FOSS
177:.com
108:.org
845:doi
773:doi
698:hdl
690:doi
622:doi
477:CHF
470:CHF
460:In
276:in
65:Aim
974::
935:,
923:,
910:^
897:,
879:^
869:.
861:.
853:.
843:.
839:.
835:.
805:^
795:.
787:.
779:.
769:18
767:.
763:.
733:^
720:.
712:.
704:.
696:.
688:.
682:.
649:^
636:,
628:,
620:,
616:,
573:^
511:.
373:.
284:.
847::
841:9
775::
700::
692::
624::
567:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.