Comparative analysis of the institutional designs that regulate the participation of victims in Colombia: before and after law 1448 of 2012

This article makes a comparative analysis of the institutional designs that regulate the participation of victims in Colombia before and after law 1448 of 2012, in order to identify factors that limit the influence these citizens aim to achieve in the participative scenarios created by the State. I conclude that while this law has introduced rules to make the participation of victims a more inclusive and democratic process, certain elements of the overall policy structure remain that keep it separated from the programmatic and budgetary decision-making aspects, with enormous gaps in coordination between the complex and disperse institutional frameworks responsible for assisting and providing reparations to the victims, and which generate new problems of collective action. This, added to the state’s inability to ensure the safety of the victims and their local leaders, greatly hinders the capacity of the Law to affect decision-making and creates enormous challenges that should be taken into account by the Colombian State in order to redesign policy and ensure effective participation.