The Participation of Civil Society in County Councils: How does this Citizenship Practice Happens?
Dorneles, Elizabeth Fontoura; Lauxen, Sirlei de Lourdes; Adams, Adair

Summary
This work deals with the results of the research “Configuration of the participatory democracy experienced by the civil society in the county councils of Cruz Alta” and aimed to check the level of the civil society participation in the county councils of Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The surveyed results corroborate what has been characterized as the Brazilian PoliticalCulture, the relations between the Brazilian political and civil societies which are in a negotiation process, mediated by the political positions before the state. In view of a totality perspective, both societies have formed partnerships to defend polarized projects in the minimum state and in the radicalization state of the democratic deepening. In the space of these struggles there is a permanent tension in which, due to the fragility of the democracy, civil society acts under the perspective of representative democracy, delegating the voting power to a representative and remaining absent from the process, leaving to those elected the responsibility to carry out the political processes.

Full Text: PDF