This paper presents a critical review of the principal theoretical foundations of the concept of participative municipal management. The theoretical framework for two of its main foundations is reviewed: new public management - the principal inspiration for modernizing the State in Latin America - and the emergent management model called democratic governance. The objective of this review is to identify the principal theoretical elements for each model that make it possible to configure the concept of participative municipal management, increasingly used in Latin America. The main conclusion is that the concept of participative municipal management has a hybrid theoretical basis that allows it to respond to the double demand currently being made in Latin America municipalities: efficiency and democracy. Methodology was a bibliographic review of specialized literature.