Horizontalidad

Horizontalidad is a principle of organizing used in political and social movements that emphasizes non-hierarchical and participatory decision making. It distributes authority across assemblies and local groups rather than through a single leader or central committee, often prioritizing consensus, rotating roles, and direct participation from participants.

The term gained prominence in Latin American social movements in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is closely associated with the Zapatista movement in Mexico, which organized through decentralized councils and community assemblies with spokespersons chosen locally and subject to recall. Since then, horizontalidad has influenced a range of movements that rely on federated networks, neighborhood assemblies, affinity groups, and worker collectives to govern themselves without centralized leadership.

Key features include decentralized authority, assembly-based decision making, consensus or broad-majority decisions, voluntary association, and rotating leadership. The approach often relies on direct deliberation, mutual aid, and networks that connect local groups into a broader movement, rather than formal hierarchies or party structures.

Critics argue that horizontal structures can slow decision making, complicate coordination, and be vulnerable to dominance by more vocal actors. Without formal mechanisms, accountability may be diffuse, and marginalized voices require deliberate inclusion practices. Scaling horizontalidad to larger populations or to contexts with legal or electoral obligations can also pose challenges.

Related concepts include participatory democracy, horizontalism, and anarchist organizational theory. Horizontalidad is viewed as a method for achieving more egalitarian and participatory forms of collective action, while simultaneously confronting practical and institutional constraints.