Orçamento participativo e gestão democrática no poder local

The end of the authoritarian regime in Brazil resulted in new forms of democratization of politics and its institutions, with the strenghtening of the civil society. The Participatory Budgeting is an important experience of that new way, characterized by the assumption of the new responsibilities by the local governments. The comparative approach of those experiences, conducted from different party coalitions - in Piracicaba (1989-1992) and in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste (1997-2000) -, allows a test of their powers and limits from a procedural conception of democracy and the complementary role of the participation. In contrast to a view that gives priority to representation, the analysis discusses the range of the new civil society actions from the perspective of the democratization process in the scope of the Local Government. © 2007 CEDEC.

A experiência do orçamento participativo em Campinas sob a ótica da comunicação pública

This paper analyzes the experience of Participatory Budgeting (PB) in the city of Campinas (SP) from the perspective of public communication, understand it as an important factor to increase the participation of social actors in decision-making processes. The democratization process in Brazil was the springboard for a change in the relations between state and society. In line with the new democratic demands, the OP appears to be the possibility of linkage between representative democracy and participatory democracy. As methodological procedure was used the case study of OP in Campinas from 2001 to 20011, comparing the administrations of two different political parties: PT (2001-2004), under the governments of Antonio da Costa dos Santos and Izalene Tiene, and PDT, with the consecutive term of Hélio de Oliveira Santos (2005-2011). We sought to assess whit this research if the communication actions used by different public administrations achieve the public interest adequately, encouraging popular participation

El gobierno de las megalópolis, el caso de Brasil, São Paulo: gestión metropolitana, descentralización y participación como desafíos simultáneos

The government of a megalopolis, such as São Paulo, shows singular challenges that do not exist in less complex urban contexts. Being a city of a country with a recent industrialized economy, with an income (functional and geographical) highly concentrated, that has resumed the democracy for only one quarter of a century, this megacity lives with its own political and organizational assignments, due to the contradictory character of the political behavior of its habitants/ voters and of the traditionalist nature of populism and patronage in the relationship between the rulers and the ruled and between the Executive and Legislative powers at the local level. In such context, the difficulties to prosecute the assignments of the metropolitan organization, the decentralization and the institutionalization of citizen participatory channels in the governance and administrative activities are huge. The centrifuge forces (of the decentralization of the local government, through subprefectures), the centripetal forces ( of the metropolitan organization process) and the diffuse forces (of the claiming popular participation) act simultaneously over the deciding processes, in São Paulo, receiving, still, state and national political influences, since the city is a very significant historically producer of political and electoral capital. The analysis of the recent experience of the creation of the subprefectures and the representative counsels (fixed in the Municipality Organic Law of 1990) and the attempt to implement the participatory budgeting, in two occasions (1989-1992 and 2001-2004), reveal some of the social and political reasons that make difficult the establishment of a solidly democratic governance and of a more efficient public administration in the metropolitan area of São Paulo.

Orçamento participativo e instituições participativas: aspectos para a avaliação de experiências e casos

This article is to discuss the evaluative perspectives from which it is possible and convenient evaluate the Participatory Budgets (PBs) and the participatory institutions (PIs) that are being experienced in Brazil since the last two decades of the last century. It is proposed an integrated perspective of evaluation of PBs and PIs, in order to avoid partial and biased conclusions, especially those which are based solely or primarily on quantitative methodologies. This discussion is necessary since, in the past five years, the criticism of these experiments has been increasing. Through critical and creative reflection, in essay form, and based on the recent literature on the topic, it is concluded by the need to adopt, in the empirical evaluation, an integrated approach of evaluation of the PBs and the PIs, such as it is proposed in this article. It is conclude also which is fundamental for the theoretical advancement on the subject dedicate special attention to the desirability or not of adopting the criterion of popular participation in government decisions under representative democracy, since it is refuted by public choice and defended by neo-republicanism.

Características de las experiencias españolas de presupuesto participativo: intento de encuadramiento en una tipología

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is an innovative methodology of public budget management. It includes the common citizen in decision-making process, which does not happen in traditional budget processes. PB emerged in Brazil in the last two decades of the last century (Porto Alegre’s experience is the best known model) and spread to several countries since then. The spread of the practice has produced significant changes in relation to the original proposals, requiring the efforts of analysts to identify them in different situations, carried out by different political actors, with different objectives. Pires and Pineda (2008a) proposed a typology of PB sought to contemplate the experiences from the simplest to the most daring and less sophisticated to the pretentious, so as to allow assessment of the maximum number of cases. In this article the Spanish experiences of PB are characterized from this typology, highlighting its most relevant aspects. It is a useful study to understand the evolution of PB in Spain, but also to continue the effort to better define what is and can become the participatory budget as a possible tool for improving the management of local public finance and democracy

Presupuestos participativos (PPs) e instituciones participativas (IPs) en Brasil: criterios (y marco) para la evaluación de experiencias y casos

This paper identifies relevant criteria for evaluation of participatory budgeting and participatory institutions that are currently adopted by governments of both Brazil and elsewhere, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive assessment that integrates all these criteria. Finally, it is recommended to pay special attention to assessing the desirability of these institutions, which are not always positively for theories on democracy

Conselheiros do Orçamento Participativo nas franjas da sociedade política

This article suggests the need for change in focus of studies on new instances of participation in public policy management, which emerged in the Brazilian re-democratization. Moving away from the literature that addresses the role of civil society in these instances, the author reviews studies on Participatory Budgeting (PB) indicating how such experiences are marked by the dynamics of political society. The argument is reinforced by the presentation of a survey of PB counselors in Osasco-SP, by which we perceive, in general, a role filled by political processes of representative democracy. Most councilors compose the fringes of the political society, lie on the rise in, seeking better position in the local political field, internal disputes within the parties and the municipal government. This points the limits of the democratizing potential of the PB, since the expansion of participation in budget decisions would be just within the political society.

Gender, tourism, and participatory appraisals at the Corumbau Marine Extractive Reserve, Brazil

The Corumbau Marine Extractive Reserve was created in a region of rich biodiversity, located in the South of Bahia State, Brazil, to meet the revindications of artisanal fishermen in a context of increasing predatory industrial fisheries. The aim of the Marine Extractive Reserve is to improve the sustainability of fisheries stocks and the economy of artisanal fishermen's families, protecting the local biodiversity for the locals' collective use. However, at Corumbau the natives are facing social problems that have increased due to tourism growth. The present research contributes to the Management Plan in sectors that are crucial to assess the aspirations and subjective aspects related to the natives' daily life at individual, familiar and communitary levels. The Participatory Appraisal with a Gender Equity Perspective (PAGP) was applied to five communities at RESEX Corumbau, showing, by gender, the greatest problems artisanal fisheries' families are facing. Tourism is growing in the area, reflecting the residents different and contradictory interests. It can develop commerce and jobs, but also intensify some social and environmental problems in this area. © Society for Human Ecology.