Social innovation and institutional capacity in Latin America

Abstract

Social innovation and institutional capacity in Latin America The current economic and financial crisis has led the most developed countries to abandon the old belief in an omnipotent State and an unlimited level of well-being, while at the same time questioning the extension and consolidation of basic public services in Latin America. Today, the capacity of States to meet the diversity of citizen demands and needs, to integrate the entire population into public action and to combat poverty is being questioned. Added to this is the loss of confidence of citizens in public institutions and in their members and leaders. There are profound changes in society and in the market, which show that they are assuming an increasing role in meeting the needs of the community. This gives rise to an expanded reality of the public, which can no longer be limited to the administrative or state sphere. At the same time, the State is expanding its role to enabler, guarantor and activator of society and is required to focus on inclusion, participation and representation and the creation of effective alliances. In this context, the approach of social innovation emerges, which is nourished by the evolution of ideas and governance of previous decades and the principles of the knowledge society, such as collaboration and the connection of talent; and which is being built primarily from international organizations and governments. One of its main meanings is the co-production of public services in order to promote the renewal of the public sector and to cover its shortcomings. It will be maintained that the characteristics of institutional development condition social innovation initiatives, specifically the characteristics that make up institutional capacity, just as it has been observed, in most Latin American countries in the last decade, with the guarantee and extension of public services. The existing deficiencies in the coverage of these and in the rest of unmet needs show a vast field of action for social innovation in Latin America.