The open cabildo is a traditional Hispanic American political action for convening citizens to deliberate policy. Originating in Spanish America as an iteration of the cabildo, it also spread to Spain.

A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a Spanish colonial and early postcolonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of all land-owning heads of household (vecinos). The colonial cabildo was essentially the same as the one that was developed in medieval Castile.