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According to Article 103 of the Colombian Constitution, "the following are mechanisms for the participation of the people in the exercise of their sovereignty: the vote, the plebiscite, the referendum, the popular consultation, the open council, the legislative initiative and the revocation of the mandate".
According to this, I consider that several of these mechanisms are being violated towards the Colombian people, not giving a training of these, so that people who have no knowledge of the operation of these mechanisms can learn about them and thus be able to make good use of them.
In a more specific way I will comment on how they are being violated talking about the vote. This mechanism is not being well used neither by the people, nor by the government; since the only thing they do is to try to buy the people, either by offering money, food, recreational activities, etc. Instead of creating a way in which everyone can know better about the proposals to vote on; the people are also failing by only being interested in things that they will only have for the moment and not worrying about an election that could affect the future of everyone.

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The democratic model implemented with the 1991 Constitution sought to establish a balance between political representation and citizen participation, in such a way that individuals, in addition to electing their leaders, could directly influence administrations and the decision-making that affect their communities. promoting a closer relationship between governors and governed, which would allow for better monitoring and social control over the management of public affairs.

In order to materialize and guarantee citizen participation in public decision-making at different levels of the state administration, the Charter established several mechanisms of direct participation: vote, referendum, popular consultation, legislative initiative, plebiscite, revocation of the mandate. and open council, and exhorted the legislator to regulate them and design other instances of intervention, consultation and citizen control over public management.

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The mechanisms of citizen participation are a fundamental tool for political balance and equity.

The recall of the mandate has been violated since the power of the political clans in Colombia is imposed over the rights of the majority of citizens, who seek to enforce the government proposals of the people they have elected, however these high commands do not allow this mechanism to be efficient due to political and financial interests. Likewise, the referendum is notoriously violated because, despite collecting enough signatures, it is frustrated because these requirements when they reach the congress do not have the approval, thus creating a denial of participation of the people to a right enshrined in the constitution.

Finally, I will name the legislative initiative which has also been violated, because regardless of whether the people comply with the requirements established in the norm according to the requests that are made at the national, departmental or municipal level, these are misappropriated by the political interests of corruption reflected in the aspects that mainly concern them in their individual welfare and not in the good of the citizenry.

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For years, when a political ideology took power, the elections became a cycle of corruption, the elites seeking to maintain power, degrading the right to vote and placing a limit on the correct development of our participation mechanism. This is the latent proof that these mechanisms have been desecrated in Colombia.

Likewise, guardianship is a fundamental element in citizen participation that allows social control, however, its operation is somewhat tedious and limited, where it can take months or years to give a ruling, this is something that prevents these alternatives from being facilitated to those vulnerable people.

Politics is the art of looking for problems, finding them, making a false diagnosis, and then applying the wrong remedies.

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What citizen participation mechanisms do you consider that the Colombian people have been violated and why?
According to the mechanisms established in the political constitution in Article 103, I think that in Colombia in general democracy has been affected by individual interests that do not allow transparency, conscience and honesty when making decisions, this more specifically being seen in the voting mechanism, where periodically people must choose their rulers, this should be done taking into account, merits, faculties, skills, competences, previous contributions to society, people with values, integrity and commitment, however in Colombia The level of corruption is evident, where this decision is interfered with by money, jobs, influences, unrealistic promises, which in the end only demonstrate the quality of people we want to put in power, people who want a position at all costs. , they get it dishonestly, but nevertheless we do not consider that we will not only harm us but also the entire community.

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Article 103 of the 1991 Colombian Constitution establishes that: There are mechanisms for the participation of the people in the exercise of their sovereignty: the vote, the plebiscite, the referendum, the popular consultation, the open council, the legislative initiative and the revocation of the mandate. The law will regulate them.

The problem with this type of expression is that even though the people express their opinion and it is a sincere and transparent opinion, the system always fails, because these participation mechanisms come into the hands of the government and when there is no division of powers ( like what is currently happening in my country Venezuela), then inevitably corruption and money distort the will of the people.

Situations can be found where 90% of the population expresses their opinion in favor of a proposal, but even such a high number can be influenced by factors and make that data never be public knowledge. The best way to avoid reaching these extremes is by voting responsibly, thinking about the consequences of that decision in the future.

And remember: "Whoever does not know his story is condemned to repeat it"

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The Responsibilities of the citizens.

"For the exercise of the right and promoting, protecting and guaranteeing modalities of citizen participation in political, administrative, economic, social and cultural life, and also to control political power, it is necessary to inquire about the aspects of public interest, the institutional offer of instances of participation, the competences established, as well as respecting the decisions taken and being accountable to the communities"

Now, throughout the centuries and the presidential, governmental, mayoral and other mandates, we have realized the common factor, corruption. This phenomenon has become so natural in the Colombian political and economic sphere, and is nothing more than an obstacle to the development of the country, which in turn affects the correct establishment of the representatives of the citizens, who many times through of vote buying, corrupt alliances or silencing, of those who use various methods of expression, from the mechanisms that are established within the Colombian Penal Code, to the current technological tools for communication, thus violating the rights, directly and indirectly from all citizens and participants of Colombian society.

Like the violation of the plebiscite, firstly due to lack of information available to the people involved in the decision or that the people involved in the decision can find out and secondly the value that is given to it, and we have been able to see what is subtracted from the voice of the Participants, who often indicate a certain specific reason and without any argument, the decision that we see in the news and are made by the great leaders, are aimed at individual self-benefit and do not go according to the decision-making expressed by the citizens.

Thank you very much for your reading and contributions

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Article 103 of the Colombian Constitution states that: "The State shall contribute to the organization, promotion and training of professional, civic, trade union, community, youth, charitable or non-governmental associations, without detriment to their autonomy, so that they may constitute democratic mechanisms of representation in the different instances of participation, consultation, control and supervision of public management that may be established".
In my opinion, all the mechanisms of participation are violated, the giant cause of corruption in the country, but for this forum I will only focus on one: Vote.  The vote is the one that in my opinion is the most violated, since the other mechanisms of participation depend indirectly on it, for example, for a referendum it is necessary to vote for the people to give their opinion. But now let's focus on the election of the president, citizens vote for the one who "in their opinion" will do the best for the country, its economy and its citizens, but... Who tells us that the vote count is true? Who shows or informs us that an illegal act is not being committed? Exactly that is my point, they tell us that x person won the elections and will be our new president, but we do not know for sure if it was really that or there was a corrupt hand that interfered in the process.

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Unfortunately our country is characterized by corruption, leaving aside our wonderful flora and fauna, natural resources and incredible people. Our rights are violated to give our opinion freely and safely against injustices that happen in front of our eyes and it is undeniable, the participation mechanisms according to our political constitution allow us to make our reality known to the rulers, many times this it is completely ignored.
Where the corruption and weakness of the people are most seen is at the time of voting, we see how our people sell their valuable decision only for a 4-year position in the administration or even for a plate of food or a 50 thousand bill pesos, is what I have evidenced in my town and it really seems very sad to me. We just wait to see which candidate gives the most market during his campaign to bet everything on him without knowing his true intentions.
In general, the government almost never listens to the people and their needs.

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Article 103 of Law 1757 of 2015 of the Colombian Constitution offers us different participation mechanisms, among which is the vote, which is “It is the act by which a citizen actively participates in the election of the people who want them to those represented in the adoption of a decision, speaking in both directions ”. I will talk about this participation mechanism since it is considered one of those that has been corrupted the most by people with power and with the help of the registry, false registered IDs were identified and that according to speculations it has been voted with these false numbers identified, the The problem is not only people with money generate this type of illicit actions but also the people by submitting to their conditions, becoming bribed to exercise the right to vote for the benefit of that person.

We can also show the same situation with the other mechanism of citizen participation which is the plebiscite where it is evidenced that that person or some group of people who want to continue taking into account the power of sovereignty.

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According to article 103 of the Colombian Constitution, "they are mechanisms for the participation of the people in the exercise of their sovereignty: the vote, the plebiscite, the referendum, the popular consultation, the open council, the legislative initiative and the revocation of the mandate”.

We are in a country in which corruption runs through the veins of practically all the people who govern us, it is very difficult to progress when the rights we have as citizens are violated, for these are the ones that allow us to raise our voices and improve ourselves as a nation In this case, there are many citizen participation mechanisms that are violated, in my opinion the one that most incurs corruption is in the vote and the plebiscite because they are the most used and many of the politicians buy votes or deceive people making faulty promises that they will never keep.

On the other hand, I consider that the plebiscite is also one of the participation mechanisms that is most affected because many times the results obtained at the polls are not respected, as in the case of the plebiscite presented by former President Juan Manuel Santo, when the consultation of Colombians if they agreed with La Paz, which at that time won the "NO" but it is rumored that there was too much corruption in this mechanism of citizen participation.

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Voting, or universal suffrage, is a right that all Colombian citizens over 18 years of age can and should exercise. However, the average voter turnout in Colombia is 45%. In other words, less than half of those eligible to vote do so.

The highest participation recorded in the recent history of the country occurred in the 2018 presidential elections with 54% of the electoral roll, according to a study conducted by the National Civil Status Registrar's Office and the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute.

According to the same study, which compared the levels of electoral participation in the presidential elections held in Colombia so far in the 21st century, abstention in the 2002 elections was 54%, in 2006 55.3%, in 2010 56.1% and in 2014 it was 52.6%. According to the report, abstention in 2010 was the highest in the last century.

the mechanisms of citizen participation enshrined in article 103 of the Colombian political constitution and its regulation in the statutory law 1757 of 2015 are an important tool for citizens in general since thanks to these we can regulate and control the form of government.

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Article 103 of the Colombian Constitution provides us with different mechanisms of participation, which are: Vote, plebiscite, referendum, popular consultation, open council, revocation of the mandate and popular initiative. Today I will talk about the vote and the violation that is evident in Colombia. A mouthful of what the vote is: "It is the act by which a citizen actively participates in the election of the people who want to represent them or in the adoption of a decision, pronouncing in one sense or another".
My view on this is that not only has the government taken it upon itself to violate this mechanism, but the people have also contributed to it not being an honest practice. The population has focused on its current economic situation and has been bought off by corrupt politicians who seek their own benefit and not the country as a whole. We bring to power people who start from dishonesty, cheating, lying and many other things, we are violating our right not to do it honestly and we are violating the right of generations to come, leaving them a bad example, who choose out of necessity and not honesty.The bad decisions we make in a simple vote are reflected in the government of those who have no idea of governing with nobility and wisdom.

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The citizen participation mechanisms enshrined in article 103 of the Colombian political constitution and its regulations in statutory law 1757 of 2015 are an important tool for citizens in general since thanks to these we can regulate and control the form of government, thus How to generate changes within it if it does not fulfill its functions is a right and a duty that we all have to make correct use of them. Unfortunately, many times these participation mechanisms are left aside and are not used correctly, a very clear example of which we are all aware is when people allow themselves to be influenced by others when voting in and this entails a series of irregularities and cases of corruption within the government, preventing the good management and provision of the necessary resources for citizens, this situation occurs mainly due to a deficient electoral system where transparent management is not carried out and in turn due to lack of education regarding the scope and the impact that voting has within society.
We must become aware of our own actions and accept that a reasonable choice from our individual perspective is the best way to obtain not only momentary but deep and true benefits that favor everyone.

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Law 1757 of 2015 "Whereby provisions on the promotion and protection of the right to democratic participation are issued." Vote buying is a term we commonly hear in our country, everything is based on the fact that candidates use different methods to distort and buy the decision made by a large group of people: either with money, market, medicines, appliances, furniture, etc. With all these types of options, people make the serious mistake of choosing a candidate lightly, without thinking about it, and only do so because they were given something as a gift.

In many cases these candidates who lead all this vote buying take advantage of people of low resources, who access these by necessity but do not think about the future, in the damage they may be causing in the medium term for that vote sold.

Recent cases as it was in the congressional elections in March 2018 501 vote buying were reported. The most violated or denounced departments were Cundinamarca, Santander, Antioquia, Bogota.

According to a study of the global barometer of corruption shows a worrying fact in Colombia, 40% of Colombians have at some point been offered money for their vote.

As Colombians if we know people who are accustomed to this type of purchases, we must tell them that it is not the right thing to do and if it is possible to denounce it. If you really want a change in the country, the first step is to begin to eliminate corruption by removing support for this type of illegal practices.

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In my opinion I think that in Colombia the mechanisms of participation are violated a lot, but I especially feel that the one that is most violated is the vote, since corruption has always existed and by this means is reflected the bad treatment towards this mechanism, such as the vote, for example; There is vote buying, which is one of the most repetitive and disappointing methods of violation, and like many others, a particular case that I remember that has been violated, is that of a time when the political campaign for the mayoralties was beginning, then the candidates for office went to the neighborhoods to make their campaigns, but that was not the only thing they did, to give their proposals and that apart from that, they gave money to some people, especially those who had several members in the family, of legal age, to vote for that candidate.
As there are also electoral mafias, what they do is that besides buying the votes they also falsify them, since it has also been demonstrated that after the counting of the votes, votes are found with identifications of persons unknown to the system.

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Law 1757 of 2015 states: "Providing for the promotion and protection of the right to democratic participation", a law that protects these mechanisms of participation that aim to ensure that Colombian citizens receive benefits that move them to be part of the changes that may occur within the judicial systems, executive and legislative or in other words participate in the decisions that define the direction of the country.

The mechanism of participation that I believe has been violated to the Colombian people is the popular vote because to exercise this type of democracy it is necessary that the elections are clean, as the candidates must be, something that is currently not completely certain because democracy and the way in which this type of voting is handled in Colombia has lost credibility; they have been "uncovered" several election frauds and in my personal experience in the department where I live I have heard from some jurors who change the vote count for financial reward, aspirants to important positions on several occasions carry out vote buying and the worst thing is that in the first round of the 2018 elections, in Cali, at least 3,230 dead people’s ballots were identified and ended up voting and influencing the results of the first round by the presidency of the republic, This leads us to think that in Colombia democracy in terms of the popular vote is not transparent.

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In my opinion all or at least most of the mechanisms of citizen participation have been violated, but especially mechanisms such as the plebiscite, the vote, the referendum and the popular consultation are the most violated precisely because they are the most used, I believe that the reason why they are violated is that there will always be the benefits and ideas of the officials who ignore and pass over or in other cases distort the results of these mechanisms because they do not find the product of these tools fair or good or because they do not agree with the results since they always seek their own benefit and thus corrupt these means of participation and what they want to achieve with them, which is to provide guarantees and benefits in the face of nonconformities that arise in society.

I would also believe that another reason for this is that there is not really a transparent entity that carries out the due and proper control when the application of any of the mechanisms is being carried out, therefore it is much easier for corruption to occur in these events.

Thanks for the attention.

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Yes, in my opinion it was the right to vote. In my town, it often happens that for mayoral and presidential elections, some people register identity cards of people who are not currently alive and pretend that the person is still voting. There is also the case that they convince low-income people mostly to give them something in exchange for them to vote for the campaign that those people support, however as people we also allow ourselves to be convinced and although at the moment we are not aware by receiving the money we are inciting people to corruption. I think that when we receive the money for a vote we lose the total right over it and we have no right to claim what comes from it.
In addition to the fact that there are people who at the time they go to vote are surprised when they announce themselves at the voting tables and realize that their names appear crossed out, which is why, according to they had already voted, their right to vote has been violated there. vote of the person, then here we realize that what is established in article 103 of the law of 1757 of 2015 has been violated.

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The main mechanism of citizen participation violated in Colombia is the vote, ‘cause there have been many situations of corruption and fraud.

In the Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 in article 258 it’s written that voting is a right and a duty; but since this participation mechanism was implemented there is no strict control to avoid fraud.

The main victims of voting fraud are poor people and people from distant towns, because politicians who are campaigning travel these places to give economic aid or threats to families in exchange for their vote, and take advantage of the situation of poverty. Their right to vote and to choose their representative with total freedom is violated. This situation leads to great long term problems due to the election of politicians, corruption and terrible administration in the country.

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We have many luck in having many ways to be able to vote for the person that we want, to be able to participate in the decissions of our government and for having the capacity of sueing the government if they dont accomplish something that they should do, but these laws are not always fear in the votations centers, in many cases we see that there are people whose dead and they still vote, thanks to the corruption and the evil of some politicians, for example when some party tells you to vote for them and they will give you money, food or something else that you dont have with bad purposes, that is changing your opinion, is making a huge change to your beliefs just by taking an advantage for your opinion, things like that doesnt allow that the free speech and the participation mecanisms doesnt take a well use in our beloved country.
Thanks for reading I hope you enjoy it

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In my opinion, a mechanism of citizen participation that has been violated in recent years is the plebiscite, because despite being a way to have public opinion, there have been cases in which the results are not respected, for example, "the plebiscite for peace" during the mandate of former president juan Manuel santos, since the current president Iván duque did not give continuity to the process, since, first, what was done with that mechanism was not respected, and second, the agreements made at that time were not kept. On the other hand, another remarkable mechanism would be the revocation of mandate, since despite being a democratic form in which citizens, through a joint agreement, decide that an official should not hold the position he/she has been assigned, despite having a justifiable reason. This method is not effective, nor efficient, since it requires a long legal and investigative process, without highlighting that, given that our country is not the most exemplary, corruption and manipulation play an important role in the results obtained from these situations, so it is not seen as a solution that, when carried out, will be fulfilled.
Law 1757 of 2015 is supposed to regulate the popular and normative initiative before the mechanisms of participation, and establishes the fundamental rules by which the democratic participation of civil organizations will be governed, but clearly it can be noted that this does not happen completely and regularly, therefore, I personally believe that transparency and respect for this law and the mechanisms, depends on the situation that arises and the type of person who is in the middle of that process.

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Personally, I believe that all citizen participation mechanisms are violated the moment each person’s decision ceases to be personal and is influenced by third parties in exchange for obtaining certain “rewards” for the “support” offered. All citizen participation mechanisms mentioned in article 103 of the political constitution and in law 1757 of 2015 (the popular initiative and regulations before public corporations, the referendum, the popular consultation, the revocation of the mandate, the plebiscite and the open council ) are violated when the citizen does not make correct use of them to seek the welfare or improvement of the country but on the contrary makes or supports decisions that generate a short-term benefit for himself in addition to supporting corrupt causes that worsen the situation of the country in all aspects, from the social, through the political, to the economic. An example of this type of situation occurred in 2016 when many people voted in the plebiscite according to the opinion of their relatives or their opinion of the government and not according to their own reflection on whether or not the peace accords favored the country in general. Participation mechanisms are tools that allow exercising the right to participate in collective decisions, decisions that must be made conscientiously to obtain a common benefit and not a personal benefit; therefore they should not be used to achieve personal objectives through corrupt practices and neither as a method to follow personal ideologies.

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Suffrage is one of the mechanisms that is most violated and is one of the most relevant in the town taken from my personal criteria, but it is also something contradictory on the part of society. First of all, we can observe over the years how voting cases have arisen where the principle of democracy is contradicted. In Colombia it is recurrent that the dead vote in the elections, but little was known about their endorsing candidates with their signatures, reaching figures of 1,596 dead signing the endorsements (Tiempo, 2011)
We can see how the people in charge have the control of the people instead of the people having their sovereignty, corruption being the main factor of the failures in the political, economic and social system of Colombia. Even so, the Colombian people stand idly by observing how they are manipulated from the higher ranks for their own profit. It is contradictory for the people to protest the political instability that we have, where 46.6% of Colombians did not vote in the majorities of the elections given in 2018 despite the fact that in 2014 the figure was higher, it was even higher. 60% of the non-participation of the people. (El Tiempo, 2018)
In conclusion, we demand changes in the different systems of the country, but we do not take the initiative, the power, the command of the most relevant mechanism in Colombia, which is the vote, which is essential for a better development in the nation. To start with that change that we want so much, we must have more political ownership, the change we want in the country is complex, but it is not impossible.

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Political Constitution of Colombia Article 103:

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They are mechanisms for the participation of the people in the exercise of their sovereignty: the vote, the plebiscite, the referendum, the popular consultation, the open council, the legislative initiative and the revocation of the mandate. The law will regulate them.

Article 2 of the 1991 Political Constitution of Colombia establishes as one of the essential purposes of the State, that of facilitating the participation of citizens in the decisions that affect them in the economic, political, administrative and cultural life of the Nation.

It is not impressive at all that one day we wake up with the news that some rich and important person has stolen large sums of money and that they have come out clean from the applied justice.

The most well-known participation mechanism is the popular vote, and in each presidential election we are convinced that the candidates are suitable to choose, when they only cover illicit acts with smiles and good rhetoric.
Most of the time the candidates with the most budget are in charge of deceiving citizens and buying their vote. Afterwards, the results are altered and we continue in the same government without seeing changes.

It is not necessary to go to the other mechanisms because this is already a clear example of the violation of the rights of free expression and choice, but another example may be the revocation of the mandate, which in my opinion should be applied to ALL officials elected by popular vote, but even so we cannot demand that a congressman or attorney and not even that the president retire from office.  (Law 1757 of 2015)

This is not directly violating the law because that mechanism is defined in those conditions!

I really don't have much to add, I hope it's pretty clear, thanks for reading.

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Although there are multiple mechanisms of citizen participation granted to us in the Constitution by Article 103, such as the suffrage (vote), the plebiscite, the referendum, the popular consultation, the open council, the legislative initiative and the revocation of the mandate, and it can be said that, in theory, all citizens of legal age can make use of them when warranted without any kind of restriction; In real society we usually see how these rights are violated and restricted, perhaps not directly, but through manipulation, indoctrination, blackmail and bribery. A clear and evident example is when the country enters into electoral periods and citizens must exercise their right to vote, in order to choose a suitable and qualified representative; however, very often, they are influenced by relatives, friends, and even the candidates themselves and their campaigns that try to corrupt the decision that should be personal and responsible. This is how in Colombia a false democracy is maintained where at first glance each person has their own criteria to choose, but in reality it is only a curtain of corruption.

Let me know what you think, thanks!!