Suchergebnisse

Greater citizen involvement has become one of the primary objectives of contemporary democracies around the globe. This has also been the case in Latin America, where the democratization process has been marked by greater citizen involvement in politics and by the reach that political decisions have on citizenship. Institutionalizing formal participation mechanisms can be considered one facet of this process. Likewise, these mechanisms have been established under the context of decentralization, which has been particularly notable in the case of Brazil. The purpose of this article is to describe what has occurred in Brazil since its democratic opening and the implications on citizen participation in politics. As such, this article will provide a general panorama of the decentralization process carried out in Brazil, placing emphasis on the role of citizen participation in politics. Following this part, analysis will be centered on some concrete examples of participation at the local level in Brazil.Keywords: Democracy, Decentralization, Political Participation, Participatory Budgeting, Brazil