A interferência abusiva na escolha popular: o esvaziamento da cidadania das cidades

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the increasingly common sociopolitical phenomenon in cities: the abusive interference in the popular choice of citizens. The Democratic Rule of Law mandates that citizens can freely choose the managers of public affairs, which is the highest expression of democratic principles. However, there is a noticeable weakening of the broad exercise of citizenship when external powers restrict the free choice and the range of options available to citizens. The choice of public officials is a central aspect of the right of citizens, as it is the democratically elected individuals who will lead urban planning through governance techniques and the implementation of public policies, all aimed at ensuring fundamental rights. With this democratic premise and the fundamental role of public officials established, the study seeks to explore the relationship between governance and governability from the perspective of implementing urban public policies, since these sets of actions shape life in the city and give effect to the social function of cities. Based on the multidisciplinary theoretical framework that underpins issues related to cities, the research moves to examine the forms of abusive interference in popular choice, with a particular focus on the instruments of ineligibility statutes and the criminalization of politics—forms of undermining citizen sovereignty that materialize through the abusive reduction of the range of options available to citizens and the judicialization of politics.