The participative management has been legitimated in the last decades reaching its maximum at the Habitat II Conference, in 1996. A The popular participation has advantages encouraging democratization but processes such as political manipulation has been found. Thus, it is necessary to deepen the debate in order to establish criteria and methods. The main challenges of the participation practices lie in envolving the excluded masses due to the stigma of poverty characterized by lack of ability and dependence. This article ains to discuss the theoretical and methodological basis to establish a popular participation policy.