In Chile, citizen participation has gradually acquired greater importance as a legitimate mechanism to influence public affairs. However, at the local level the establishment of institutional citizen participation has developed unevenly in the territory. In this context, we ask what are the factors that explain the adoption of citizen participation mechanisms in local governments? Through the case study of Santiago city, the implementation of participatory institutions at the local level is analyzed. The study concludes that the political leadership of the Mayor is articulated through complex causal linkages with other local factors -such as the municipality's financial and human resources- leading to the effective implementation of participatory mechanisms.