Do Institutional Participatory Projects Contribute to the Development of Political Capabilities?

Participation usually sets off from the bottom up, taking the form of more or less enduring forms of collective action with varying degrees of infl uence. However, a number of projects have been launched by political institutions in the last decades with a view to engaging citizens in public affairs and developing their democratic habits, as well as those of the administration. This paper analyses the political qualifying capacity of the said projects, i.e. whether participating in them qualifi es individuals to behave as active citizens; whether these projects foster greater orientation towards public matters, intensify (or create) political will, and provide the necessary skills and expertise to master this will. To answer these questions, data from the comparative analysis of fi ve participatory projects in France and Spain are used, shedding light on which features of these participatory projects contribute to the formation of political subjects and in which way. Finally, in order to better understand this formative dimension, the formative capacity of institutional projects is compared with the formative dimension of other forms of participation spontaneously developed by citizens.

O processo de adoção e implementação do Orçamento Participativo: os casos de Braga e Guimarães

Dissertação de mestrado em Administração Pública (área de especialização em Gestão Pública)

Orçamento participativo e a formação para a cidadania

Nossa pesquisa pretende descrever a trajetória do Orçamento Participativo desde seu surgimento, em 1988, até 2000, através de seu processo de implantação e desenvolvimento que vem garantindo uma formação para a cidadania a partir de uma prática de participação política junto às populações integrantes do espaço social de Porto Alegre. Esse sistema estratégico de administração dos recursos públicos constituiu-se num exemplo da participação popular no espaço social. Tomou-se mesmo um instrumento símbolo da cidade, pois suas técnicas contribuem para esboçar um novo perfil da "formação para a cidadania". Nossa metodologia, partindo do objetivo de investigar a natureza da formação para a cidadania proporcionado pelo Orçamento Participativo, utilizou como técnicas de procedimento pesquisas documentais e bibliográficas, além de contatos diretos com vários agentes. Os instrumentos de pesquisa empregados nas coletas de dados, análise e interpretação, seguiram as seguintes técnicas: entrevistas junto aos conselheiros populares regionais e aos delegados das comissões temáticas.(representantes eleitos no processo do Orçamento Participativo); pesquisa documental e análise de conteúdo. As categorias de análise trabalhadas foram: o Orçamento Participativo, a formação para a cidadania e o habitus político (como um conhecimento adquirido, um haver, e/ou capital que indicam uma disposição incorporada, quase postural). Tal pesquisa é inédita devido à utilização do pressuposto teóricometodológico do sociólogo francês Pierre Bourdieu. Seus resultados têm demonstrado que garantir, em nível municipal, a transferência do poder de decisão dos investimentos públicos aos cidadãos de Porto Alegre proporciona um processo de politização cada vez mais amplo através da participação, autonomia e conseqüente formação de um novo habitus, rumo à auto gestão. Considerando que o processo de formação oportunizado pelo Orçamento Participativo garante uma valorização dos agentes sociais, este desencadeia um desabrochar do cidadão. A formação para a cidadania portanto, proporcionada por essa prática em mais de dez anos consecutivos, vem obtendo um reconhecimento internacional de destaque no cenário político do final do século xx.

O orçamento do governo local sob condições de participação dos cidadãos: o caso da Prefeitura de Santos

Este trabalho trata de um estudo de caso sobre a participação direta dos cidadãos no orçamento público municipal. Discute-se a teoria democrática sustentando-se que a democracia representativa apresenta fàlhas que exigem mecanismos corretivos e que a participação direta dos cidadãos se apresenta como uma alternativa para corrigir esses desvios. A premissa básica que permeia toda a pesquisa é a da participação direta como meio eficiente de controle do cidadão sobre as ações do Estado - Governo Local. Por meio da análise do Programa de Governo do Partido e do Plano de Governo da Prefeitura de Santos~ procurou-se verificar quais os fundamentos teóricos da participação direta que orientam as ações do Governo Municipal Santista. A dimensão institucional da participação é explorada por meio da descrição e análise crítica das formas de participação direta~ previstas na legislação constitucional - Constituições Federal e Estadual de São Paulo e Lei Orgânica do Município de Santos. Busca-se identificar quais são os limites dos mecanismos de participação direta, previstos na legislação. quando aplicados ao orçamento municipal. A investigação sobre o processo decisório orçamentário visa a captar qual lógica subjaz no processo de alocação de recursos no orçamento público. Embora se tenha assinalados certos embaraços jurídicos e operacionais à participação direta dos cidadãos no orçamento~ esses entraves não invalidam a importância da experiência com orçamento participativo no Município de Santos. A proposta da Prefeitura Santista, por seu caráter inovador e educativo revela-se uma valiosa contribuição para a prática de uma gestão mais democrática e transparente no âmbito municipal.

Fatores da satisfação do cidadão com a gestão pública: um estudo sobre o orçamento participativo municipal

This thesis deals with the quality dimensions and factors affecting citizens satisfaction in the participatory budgeting process in a major city of Brazil. Participatory budgeting was introduced as a usual practice in many Brazilian cities since the 1990s. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) of customer satisfaction and loyalty antecedent factors with constructs related to governance also included, to evaluate the quality perception and satisfaction rates by citizens representatives in the participatory budgeting process. It is conducted a survey with a sample of 84 citizens representatives of the seven city regions of Natal, the capital of a Northeastern State of Brazil. It is applied descriptive and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings related to quality and governance constructs are that the quality factors are the main factors affecting satisfaction but also the tax construct is significative to satisfaction. More regarding it was found that for different perspective of the satisfaction there are different set of factors affecting it

Orçamento participativo em Fortaleza/CE: construção de uma nova cultura política? (Gestão: PT – 2005 a 2008 e de 2009 a 2012)

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

Orçamento Participativo (OP) após vinte anos de experiências no Brasil: mais qualidade na gestão orçamentária municipal?

This article consists on an analysis of dissertations and thesis on Participatory Budget (PB) in post-graduation courses in Brazil (from the CAPES data bank), from 2000 to 2009. It also makes the evolution of works explicit, the institutions where they were carried out, and the area in which they were produced. Results show that the Participatory Budget has not been often evaluated, understood and explained in terms of its finance and budget technical dimension, in spite of there are two decades studies have been carried out regarding this method on budget management in Brazil. Finally, the importance of understanding aspects on PB must be taken into consideration when carrying out new studies.

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

UMA JUVENTUDE ORGANIZADA E NÃO-PARTICIPATIVA: UM ESTUDO DE CASO SOBRE UMA GESTÃO JOVEM EM SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO

Esta pesquisa estuda a existência e atuação de uma organização da sociedade civil em São Bernardo do Campo (SBC). A partir da utilização de ferramentas da participação cidadã, em especial a que constitui o Orçamento Participativo, ela analisa se e como esta organização se relaciona com os munícipes e com as esferas do poder executivo na busca por uma proposta de governo que atenda aos anseios daqueles a que representa, além das próprias aspirações. O estudo busca, através de um relato histórico, contextualizar o município pelos aspectos econômicos, políticos e sociais. A partir de levantamentos bibliográficos e acompanhamento, por meio de entrevistas, realizou-se um estudo de caso em uma entidade social não governamental que tem especial olhar sobre o jovem cidadão são-bernardense, a fim de verificar como esta entidade é planejada e gerida para atender às aspirações sociais destes. Espera-se, ao final, entender como uma organização da sociedade civil, em consonância com o que pretende para si mesma, reflete seus objetivos nas propostas e plenárias de Orçamento Participativo de SBC, realizadas em 2010 para o ano 2011.(AU)

Coastal regulation zone rules in coastal panchayats (villages) of Kerala, India vis-a` -vis socio-economic impacts from the recently introduced peoples’ participatory program for local self-governance and sustainable development

Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest of Government of India in February 1991 as a part of the Environmental Protection Act of 1986 to protect the coast from eroding and to preserve its natural resources. The initial notification did not distinguish the variability and diversity of various coastal states before enforcing it on the various states and Union Territories. Impact assessments were not carried out to assess its impact on socio-economic life of the coastal population. For the very same reason, it was unnoticed or rather ignored till 1994 when the Supreme Court of India made a land mark judgment on the fate of the coastal aquaculture which by then had established as an economically successful industry in many South Indian States. Coastal aquaculture in its modern form was a prohibited activity within CRZ. Lately, only various stakeholders of the coast realized the real impact of the CRZ rules on their property rights andbusiness. To overcome the initial drawbacks several amendments were made in the regulation to suit regional needs. In 1995, another great transformation took place in the State of Kerala as a part of the reorganization of the local self government institutions into a decentralized three tier system called ‘‘Panchayathi Raj System’’. In 1997, the state government also decided to transfer the power with the required budget outlay to the grass root level panchayats (villages) and municipalities to plan and implement the various projects in their localities with the full participation of the local people by constituting Grama Sabhas (Peoples’ Forum). It is called the ‘‘Peoples’ Planning Campaign’’(Peoples’ Participatory Programme—PPP for Local Level Self-Governance). The management of all the resources including the local natural resources was largely decentralized to the level of local communities and villages. Integrated, sustainable coastal zone management has become the concern of the local population. The paper assesses the socio-economic impact of the centrally enforced CRZ and the state sponsored PPP on the coastal community in Kerala and suggests measures to improve the system and living standards of the coastal people within the framework of CRZ.

The utility of rapid participatory appraisal for community assessment, diagnosis, and policy development

The selection of a model to guide the understanding and resolution of community problems is an important issue relating to the foundation of public health practice: assessment, policy development, and assurance. Many assessment models produce a diagnosis of community weaknesses, but fail to promote planning and interventions. Rapid Participatory Appraisal (RPA) is a participatory action research model which regards assessment as the first step in the problem solving process, and claims to achieve assessment and policy development within limited resources of time and money. Literature documenting the fulfillment of these claims, and thereby supporting the utility of the model, is relatively sparse and difficult to obtain. Very few articles discuss the changes resulting from RPA assessments in urban areas, and those that do describe studies conducted outside the U.S.A. ^ This study examines the utility of the RPA model and its underlying theories: systems theory, grounded theory, and principles of participatory change, as illustrated by the case study of a community assessment conducted for the Texas Diabetes Institute (TDI), San Antonio, Texas, and subsequent outcomes. Diabetes has a high prevalence and is a major issue in San Antonio. Faculty and students conducted the assessment by informal collaboration between two nursing and public health assessment courses, providing practical student experiences. The study area was large, and the flexibility of the model tested by its use in contiguous sub-regions, reanalyzing aggregated results for the study area. Official TDI reports, and a mail survey of agency employees, described policy development resulting from community diagnoses revealed by the assessment. ^ The RPA model met the criteria for utility from the perspectives of merit, worth, efficiency, and effectiveness. The RPA model best met the agencies' criteria (merit), met the data needs of TDI in this particular situation (worth), provided valid results within budget, time, and personnel constraints (efficiency), and stimulated policy development by TDI (effectiveness). ^ The RPA model appears to have utility for community assessment, diagnosis, and policy development in circumstances similar to the TDI diabetes study. ^

Per capita versus adult-equivalent estimates of calorie availability in household budget surveys

This study aims to estimate an adult-equivalent scale for calorie requirements and to determine the differences between adult-equivalent and per capita measurements of calorie availability in the Brazilian population. The study used data from the 2002-2003 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. The calorie requirement for a reference adult individual was based on the mean requirements for adult males and females (2,550kcal/day). The conversion factors were defined as the ratios between the calorie requirements for each age group and gender and that of the reference adult. The adult-equivalent calorie availability levels were higher than the per capita levels, with the largest differences in rural and low-income households. Differences in household calorie availability varied from 22kcal/day (households with adults and an adolescent) to 428kcal/day (households with elderly individuals), thus showing that per capital measurements can underestimate the real calorie availability, since they overlook differences in household composition.

Improving sample representativeness in environmental studies: a major component for the uncertainty budget

For environmental quality assessment, INAA has been applied for determining chemical elements in small (200 mg) and large (200 g) samples of leaves from 200 trees. By applying the Ingamells` constant, the expected percent standard deviation was estimated in 0.9-2.2% for 200 mg samples. Otherwise, for composite samples (200 g), expected standard deviation varied from 0.5 to 10% in spite of analytical uncertainties ranging from 2 to 30%. Results thereby suggested the expression of the degree of representativeness as a source of uncertainty, contributing for increasing of the reliability of environmental studies mainly in the case of composite samples.

Estimating the cost of contact for non-resident parents: A budget standards approach

Most Western countries have, for some time, provided income support and/or taxation relief to parents with children in their care. The significant amount of research into the costs of children to couple and sole parent households has been important in assessing and developing family support policies. Changing societal expectations about the level of involvement of fathers in child rearing activities has highlighted the need to understand the costs facing usually male non-resident parents in having contact with their children. The budget standards methodology is used in this paper to estimate the costs for non-resident parents exercising regular contact with their children. Costs of contact are found to be high. For contact with one child for 20 per cent of the year, costs of contact represent about 40 per cent of the costs of that same child in an intact couple household with a medium income and more than half of the costs of that child in a household with low income. Household infrastructure and transportation is the reason for high costs. One implication of this finding is that the total cost of children substantially increases when parents separate. The article discusses some policy implications of these findings. This research is of relevance to social security, taxation, family law and child support policies and administration.

Participatory assessment of rural livelihoods in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

There is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of participatory research with smallholder farmers, in particular to help differentiate between different types of farm household with different needs. This paper reports some of the results of a study to develop participatory M&E tools for the Forages for Smallholders Project in Southeast Asia, focusing on an upland commune in central Vietnam with a highly diverse crop-livestock system. Participatory rural appraisal techniques were used within a rural livelihoods framework to assess the differing livelihoods of poor, average, and better-off households. There were found to be marked differences between households, particularly in human resources, landholdings, and cattle numbers, affecting the livelihood strategies pursued. The improved understanding of livelihood strategies was gained in a cost-effective way and could be readily used by project participants to monitor the impacts of the introduced forages within the commune, enabling better focusing of the participatory research process on the needs and circumstances of poor farmers. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.