Governance in childcare

Abstract

Given the wide action margin of public administration, governance practices can happen at different hierarchical levels, topics and varying groups of interest. The present case study lays out a governance practice in the topic of childcare in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, where, due to pressures from different interest groups, dialogue spaces were established with the intention of influencing the state’s related public policies. Our objective is to analyze the determining factors that facilitate the implementation of the basic principles of a governance model for the interaction between different interest groups. The article concludes with some useful recommendations to be considered in local governance models. To achieve this, the Analytic Governance Framework was used as a reference to diagnose this collective process. The methods used were observation, participatory action research, expert panels, interviews, and documental analysis. Keywords: governance, citizen participation, social policies, childcare, participation