ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly addresses the recent debates on deliberation and engagement as key components of a more complex understanding of citizenship and of democracy. It offers some data on participation and engagement in the Mexican context and then describes the irruption of the students' protest movements during the 2012 presidential elections. The chapter presents the methodology and the research design of this work. It discusses the findings, especially the 'connections' that enable participants to deliberate and engage. The chapter argues for the civic potential of the digital spaces in consolidating democracies, even in a context of weak citizen participative and deliberative traditions, like Mexico. It summarizes most relevant findings based upon analysis of Blog and Information Dynamic sections. Different editions of the National Survey on Civic Culture and Participation show declining patterns of traditional channels of participation in Mexico.
