Participación ciudadana institucionalizada y organizaciones civiles en Brasil: articulaciones horizontales y verticales en la política de asistencia social.

Abstract

This article examines the impact of participatory institutional arrangements between different social and civil organizations in Brazil. Taking the field of social assistance as a case study, the article argues that various institutionalized mechanisms for citizen participation, such as conferences and management councils, promote the development of a “vertical” sectorial network, through which public policies can be controlled from the federal to the local level, and a “horizontal” territorial network, in which various sectorial issues are activated within the same territory. This dual articulation promotes greater associative density: the territorial networks have better knowledge of the specific policies implemented in their cities; and the sectorial networks, besides participating in all stages of policy implementation, can understand their impact at the national and local level.

Keywords

• Social Participation
• Civil Society
• Nongovernmental Organizations
• Deliberative Democracy
• Social Welfare.