Social Economy in the Co‐construction of Public Policy

ABSTRACT: In this paper, I focus on the contribution of the social economy to the democratization of the State and of public policy by making use of the distinction between the concepts of co‐production and co‐construction. In part one, I clarify the meanings given to various concepts. In particular, I pay attention to the idea of a co‐production of public policy. This concept relates to the organizational dimension of policy and enables a contextualization of the participation of both civil society stakeholders and market forces in the implementation of services to the public. In part two, I discuss the concept of co‐construction which relates to the institutional dimension of public policy and enables an analysis of how both civil society stakeholders and market forces are defining public policies. While the co‐construction of public policy can produce various types of outcomes, I favor a solidarity‐based model in which the State is open to forms of governance inclusive of the contributions of civil society stakeholders and market forces. This type of co‐construction is fitting with a concern for the general interest and is ready to use the resources of the social economy. In part three, I review the housing policy case study in Canada and Quebec during the last twenty years. Three observations emerge from this case study: 1) the presence of both co‐production and co‐construction in public housing policy; 2) an active presence of the social economy such as co‐operatives and non‐profit organizations; 3) this active presence of the social economy has helped to produce a number of social innovations that have improved the democratization of public policy in the housing field.