Cidadania e democracia participativa: um estudo do orçamento participativo adotado pelos municípios do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The research was based on the assumption that the Participatory Budget is a concrete experience that can generate positive and / or negative results, being a process historically constructed, which is why it is necessary to analyze the social forces at play. Following this perspective, it was sought to identify the limits and possibilities of the policy of elaboration of the participatory budget, adopted by the municipalities of the State of Rio de Janeiro, to contribute to the formation of political subjects, starting from the discussion of counter-hegemonic theoretical conceptions . After reviewing some studies on Participatory Budgeting adopted by municipalities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, an empirical research was conducted in Volta Redonda through semi-structured interviews, based on the following categories: citizen participation analysis in the construction of the methodology used for the capturing the popular will; Ways of convening civil society; Perspective of social participation: advisory or tax ?; and Correlation of forces. In the end, the hypothesis was confirmed that the participatory budget is not only an internal question to the Brazilian State and its respective federative units, considering its formative role of political subjects, through the strengthening of the political conscience, opposing to the perspective of individual citizenship. Such a conception derives from the understanding that social participation must be conceived in the perspective of a process that is influenced by the correlations of existing social forces, as well as by the contradiction itself arising from the economic system. Because it is a process, its success can not be seen considering only a historical moment, insofar as the Participatory Budget reveals a political tendency to open channels of popular participation. In this context, a paradigm shift is necessary, so that social participation can be conceived in the perspective of a process that must permeate the whole dynamics of the participatory instrument