It is common knowledge in the Dominican Republic that the low-income population of our society does not participate in the decision-making process regarding national development. The lack of a democratic culture is taken advantage of by certain powerful sectors of the State and of the political and civil society to impose decisions and draw guidelines that harm the interests of the great majorities.  

The government plans, most of which have been formulated in cabinets, do not respond to the national reality and do not reflect the interests of the majority of the population; moreover, they are implemented as authoritarian and vertical measures that the communities must comply with in a passive manner, without minimally participating in the methodological form of their implementation.

Without this participation, it is impossible to achieve a sincere commitment from the majority population and, moreover, the costs of implementing the social measures carried out by the State increase, not guaranteeing the sustainability of the actions over time, which is aggravated by the lack of long and medium-term development plans.

A true democracy is built not only from above but also, and more importantly, from below. When we say from above, we are referring to all those efforts at the macro level that involve the creation of the structures and parameters that govern a society and its rules of the game. On the other hand, when we speak from below we refer to an integration of the organizations and structures that make up civil society into the structures and mechanisms of local and national power.

In this regard, the new government will have to direct its efforts in these two directions, which, in general terms, are as follows:

At the macro level:

1. It is essential to achieve the decentralization of the State, but a decentralization that does not allow minority sectors of civil and political society to occupy this vacuum, but rather that it be occupied by the great majorities through a more horizontal model of participation. This decentralization must have a structure, be coherent and permanent, and if it is necessary to make amendments or modifications to the laws in force or to the Constitution of the Republic, these must be carried out through an open dialogue with the serious and active participation of civil society.
2. Taking advantage of the macro political environment of openness and citizen participation for dialogue and social concertation, it is necessary to design a national development proposal that allows the integration of community organizations and other sectors of social and political life in a commitment that allows a broad participation of all sectors, not only in the identification of national needs, but also within the environment of the formulation of a proposal and its subsequent execution.
3. It is necessary to create solid mechanisms to monitor compliance with programs and actions that effectively contribute to reducing the population's poverty conditions. These mechanisms must exist at various levels and must involve the participation of the different social, economic and political actors of national life. 

At the micro level:

1. At this time there is no greater task than to educate and make citizens aware of what a democracy is, how it works, what it is for, what our rights and duties are as human beings, etc. We know that this effort must be constant and long term, but it is extremely necessary when we take into account that we have suffered the consequences of a paternalistic model for decades.
2. A program of dissemination and education on policies, practices and other technical issues related to national development should be promoted so that we can all know, understand and contribute constructively to build a better Dominican Republic.
3. We must also structure the various social networks that receive the crisis so that they form a political front that is decisively inserted into the framework of national development with responsibility and maturity.