Why Don’t Councils Work? Federative Barriers to Popular Participation in Brazil

Abstract

The paper contributes to the debate about the effectiveness of municipal councils and the difficulties for their functioning in Brazil, introducing further explanatory variables and arguments, poorly explored in similar works, such as federalism, coordination of public policies and accountability. The central argument is found in Guillermo O'Donnell’s work. According to the author, the fragility of new democracies lies in the horizontal accountability, which deals with institutional arrangement through governmental agencies of accountability.

Keywords

• federalismo, conselhos municipais, efetividade, controle social, ação coletiva