The crisis of representation that the Chilean political system has faced in recent years has generated changes in the functioning of formal politics. One of these changes is the incorporation of channels for citizen participation in public affairs. In this context, this article studies the process of implementation of the citizen participation policy and analyzes its impact on decision-making processes. The research is carried out through a case study methodology. It concludes that the construction of participatory discourse does not correspond to the empirical experience in participation. Public policy has been gradually implemented in central government agencies. However, it has been scarcely incidental, and perhaps even instrumental to political designs. This raises a theoretical question about the role of participation in democracy.