The defense of human rights in a post-conflict society is a great challenge for any civilized society.The post-conflict in Colombia must be a process that is addressed by the political and legal parameters of the Constitution in force in the country. Nevertheless, to guarantee a model social state of law based on respect for human dignity, work and solidarity of its members and the prevalence of general interest. Second, to provide legal security to the State, civil society and demobilized groups to the latter political and democratically participate in the governance of the state, with the horizon of their actions respect for human rights and thereby ensures that the damage caused to the victims is solved by the Truth, Justice and Reparation. / La defensa de los Derechos Humanos en una sociedad de posconflicto es un gran reto para toda sociedad civilizada. El postconflicto en Colombia se presenta como uno de los últimos ensayos políticos para cerrar brechas de violencia y desigualdad en América Latina. Colombia se presenta como un laboratorio de paz al cabo de setenta años de guerra continua no declarada entre las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (en adelante, FARC) y el ejército colombiano. Las conversaciones de paz de La Habana parecen ir encaminadas a asentar un proceso de paz duradera que está poniendo a prueba los parámetros políticos y jurídicos de la Constitución Nacional vigente en el país de 1991. Sin embargo, para poder garantizar un modelo de Estado Social de Derecho fundamentado en el respeto a la dignidad humana, el trabajo, la solidaridad de sus asociados y la prevalencia del interés general, lo pactado en La Habana tendrá que seguir los lineamientos establecidos en el Derecho Internacional Humanitario, los cuales ya han sido enmarcados ampliamente por la ley y la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional, que, a su vez, han establecido que el respeto de los derechos humanos en una sociedad de posconflicto debe solucionarse con altos y claros estándares de Verdad, la Justicia y Reparación.

Opinion leaders are important political players who bridge the gap between the political elite and the general public. Traditionally opinion leaders use social pressure and social support via interpersonal communication to personally influence the opinions, attitudes and behaviours of their everyday associates (who make up the general public). However, in a hybrid media system opinion leaders have access to added channels which mean they can communicate with audiences beyond their everyday associates and/or engage in non-interpersonal interactions, potentially setting the stage for opinion leaders to become more influential since they can access more members of the general public. Conversely, since the ability of opinion leaders to influence others traditionally relies on strong social bonds, even if audiences are accessible for information transfer, the lack of social connection could mean influence does not flow. As such, opinion leaders' channel choice in a hybrid media system is potentially very important. To investigate the patterns of channel use as well as motivations for, and impacts of, channel choices by opinion leaders, a two phase mixed-methods study is employed. Phase one includes online social network analysis of the #CDNpoli (Canadian politics) hashtag on Twitter and an online survey. Phase two investigates the communication practices of 21 specific digitally enabled opinion leaders drawn from the #CDNpoli network. Two hour in-depth interviews are paired with visualizations of the participants trace data. Telephone interviews with associates (alters) of the primary interviewee were conducted (N=27). This design is therefore responsive to the multi-channel reality of a hybrid media system and improves upon large scale and single channel studies which are most common in this line of research. Now strategic and, at times, impersonal, a fundamental shift in how influence is derived challenges theories of social influence and information dissemination. Two types of strategic opinion leaders emerge: enthusiasts and champions. Their strategies contribute to a wider trend - a "just-in-time" informed citizenry - where those who do not opt in to receiving messages from the political elite only get information at the last possible minute, such as during a scandal or an election. Future research and communication strategy must be sensitive to the varied aims and tactics of digitally enabled opinion leaders as well as the subsequent inconsistent relationship between the uninformed and their political system.

Community participation in municipal affairs is the bedrock of participatory democracy, and it has been hailed as the panacea for most public community programmes in South Africa. High-level public community participation empowers communities, increases self-reliance, self-awareness and confidence in self-examination of problems and seeking solutions for them. Community behavioural changes are promoted and utilisation and support of services is facilitated, which are of great significance to all community efforts, especially in areas where the service delivery rate from municipalities is low. The vehicle for driving community participation is the system of ward committees, legislation that is rooted in the Constitution, the Municipal Structures Act, and the Municipal Systems Act. The study sees community participation as people being involved in government decision-making that affects them directly or indirectly. It involves three types of action, namely facilitating rational deliberation, creating and communicating moral principles, and expressing personal and group affects and needs. This research investigated the role of ward committees in enhancing community participation from a South African perspective. Municipalities are organisations tasked with ensuring the equal distribution of services to local communities. Municipalities were chosen on the basis of commitment to communicate effectively with the community and in turn to encourage the community to participate fully in municipal activities. The study is conducted within the parameters of the Constitution of South Africa (1996), which mandates local government to provide a democratic and accountable local government, and to encourage the involvement of communities in the matters of local government. Section 152(1)(e) of the Constitution stipulates that the objective of local government, amongst others, is to ensure the involvement of communities and community organisations in matters of local government, and section 73 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act (Act No. 117 of 1998), further requires municipalities to establish ward committees in a manner that seeks to enhance participatory democracy at the local sphere of government. The study therefore investigated the role of ward committees in enhancing community participation. Ward committees are advisory bodies created at ward level in terms of the Municipal Structures Act (Act No. 117 of 1998), and consist of the ward councillor (who is the chair) and not more than 10 members representing diverse groups within a particular ward. The White Paper on Local Government (1998) further indicates that municipal councils should promote the involvement of citizens and community groups in the design and delivery of municipal programmes. A literature survey was conducted to investigate and conceptualise the role of ward committees in enhancing community participation, and to determine the responsibilities of ward committees in municipalities. A desktop approach was used to track down useful existing pre-published information (also known as secondary research), with the data collection coming from secondary sources, such as municipal records. A number of recommendations regarding the improvement of ward committees were made. Recommendations are provided for enhancing community participation in different municipalities in South Africa. It is envisaged that these changes could impact positively in encouraging community participation and ultimately improve service delivery.

The traditional mandate of local government is to deliver sustainable services to communities. The evolution of local government has since put more emphasis on evidence based planning in the form of IDP and sound financial management. The relationship between the IDP and Budget is that, a) the IDP contains community needs, objectives and strategies on how these will be responded or dealt with by the municipality, and b) the budget is the financial plan to execute strategies that need to be employed. The purpose of the study was to examine challenges in integrated development plan and the budget alignment of Amathole District Municipality. The study moved from the premise that municipalities are different and ADM has been in the fore front in terms of producing IDP and Budget. The study therefore is based on the assumption that the Amathole District Municipality has challenges in the IDP and Budget alignment. The study proposed to give a background of the scholarly literature of the IDP and Budget of local government. The empirical survey and research methodology used in the study is described and explained in-depths and followed by data collection in the form of the questionnaire. The research findings of the empirical survey are then analysed and reported in statistical form.

A tese tem o propósito de analisar a trajetória dos conselhos municipais em Porto Alegre de 1937 a 2008, identificando o modo como os representantes da sociedade civil foram inseridos em tais instâncias e a quem o Estado se dirigia para ocupar a posição de conselheiro. Tem como questões centrais: (1) a análise dos procedimentos de acesso de tais integrantes aos conselhos; (2) quando e como começou o estabelecimento da relação mais estreita entre governo e sociedade em Porto Alegre; (3) quais as categorias representantes da sociedade e como elas foram definidas; (4) qual o tipo de papel ou atribuição que era esperado de tais representações; (5) qual o tipo de procedimento ou mecanismo utilizado nesta inserção da sociedade e a subjacente concepção de política que estava em jogo nestes cenários. São considerados fundamentais neste estudo duas conjunturas de surgimento destas instâncias em nosso país: os anos 30 e o período pósredemocratização. No entanto, para efeito de análise o período de 1937-2008, dividiu-se em fases que foram esboçadas em consonância com as etapas da história política brasileira, a saber: o Estado Novo, a democratização a partir de 1946, o período ditatorial do regime militar, a transição democrática e a redemocratização após a promulgação da Constituição Federal de 1988, e, a primeira gestão após a saída do Partido dos Trabalhadores da prefeitura de Porto Alegre. Levando em conta os diferentes períodos pelos quais passou o município foi possível identificar ao longo dessa trajetória, duas formas que tiveram regularidade de conceber e tratar a presença da sociedade civil junto ao governo: a sociedade dos “ilustres” ou qualificados e a sociedade “participante”, que, por sua vez, conformam modelos distintos de conselho: o tradicional e o democrático que, longe de se suplantarem, acabam sinalizando a existência de um modelo híbrido de conselho. / The thesis aims to analyse the trajectory of municipal councils in Porto Alegre from 1937 to 2008 in order to identify how civil society representatives were included in such instances and who the state was going to hold the position of advisor for. Its main points: (1) an analysis of participants’ access procedures to such councils; (2) when and how a closer relationship between the government and the society was established in Porto Alegre; (3) what categories represent the society and how they have been defined; (4) what role or responsibility was expected from such representatives; (5) what type of procedure or mechanism was used in this insertion of society and the underlying political concept at stake in these scenarios. In our country, two conjunctures originating such instances were regarded as fundamental in this study: the 30s and the postredemocratization period. However, for purposes of analysis of the 1937-2008 period, we established phases which were in line with the stages of the Brazilian political history, namely the New State; the democratization after 1946; the dictatorial period of the military regime; the democratic transition and the redemocratization after the Federal Constitution of 1988; and the first term after the Labour Party left Porto Alegre’s municipality. Regarding the different moments the city has experienced along this path ever since, two ways have been established as constant in conceiving and dealing with the presence of the civil society within the government: a society of the "distinguished" or qualified, and the "participating" society which, in turn, constitute different council models: the traditional and the democratic one. Far from supplanting each other, they seem to signal the existence of a hybrid model of council.

This study explored the measures adopted by Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for capacity building of rural community members to participate effectively in the Integrated Developmental Planning (IDP) process. Focus was on the rural areas of Berlin. Existing studies suggest that, due to low literacy levels and lack of knowledge and understanding about local government issues and the benefits of participation, rural residents have little knowledge of their rights, roles and responsibilities in the IDP process, and do not know the structures designed to enhance participation. The present study was conducted against this backdrop. A mixed-methods research approach was employed, utilising quantitative and qualitative research techniques. A survey was conducted with members of four rural villages in Berlin in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Questionnaires, with open and close-ended questions, were utilised, while in-depth interviews were conducted with IDP officials at Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. The findings show that, while the Municipality did have community capacity-building measures in place; these were more about building the capacity of local government councillors and other local government officials and not rural community members. Whereas the municipality believed the capacity building of councillors would translate to building the capacity of rural community members, capacity building of rural community members did not happen. Community members appeared not to understand the IDP process, an indication that whatever capacity-building measures were targeted at them had no real effect in terms of engendering meaningful participation.

The goal of this text is to provide understanding of the role that locally organized citizens have in changing general political behavior of Czech people after 1989. The text combines knowledge of urban sociology, political and urban transformation, and citizen/political participation in post-1989 Czech Republic. Theoretically, the text is based in critical reception of urban sociology showing its rather low rate of understanding when analyzing the role of citizens in urban change. The text works with the concept of transaction activism, using it to analytically evaluate the forms of examined collective local action of citizens. Last but not least, attention is paid to the role of ICTs, notably the Internet, in forms of local citizen engagement. To provide the necessary context, the text reflects on main events in political participation on state level as well as it reflects on main urban changes after 1989. Methodologically, the work is based on data from two representative questionnaire surveys and fifteen interviews with representatives of citizen organizations. The main theses are following: (1) low direct experience with political issues leads to predominance of "the politics" as portrayed by mass media, yet it is rather easily unmasked by direct political experience; (2) Although the public opinion...

MITOZO, Isabele Batista. Participação e deliberação em ambiente online: um estudo do portal e-democracia. 2013. 174f. . – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Comunicação Social, Fortaleza (CE), 2013. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-04-03T13:37:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013-DIS-IBMITOZO.pdf: 4214318 bytes, checksum: 6e461ed855cf909228b8de91750c8ad5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-04-03T15:46:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2013-DIS-IBMITOZO.pdf: 4214318 bytes, checksum: 6e461ed855cf909228b8de91750c8ad5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-04-03T15:46:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013-DIS-IBMITOZO.pdf: 4214318 bytes, checksum: 6e461ed855cf909228b8de91750c8ad5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / This work aims to understand the vision of participation and the valorization the Brazilian Legislative Power, specifically the Chamber of Deputies, makes about political participation mechanisms by the case study of the Portal e-Democracia, sponsored by that institution. The tools of e-Democracia, by allowing citizens to participate in the discussion of topics arising from legislative agenda, bring up the use of the internet as, possibly, an effective link between representatives and the represented. In other words, the proposal of e-Democracia is to generate discussion, both among citizens and between them and their representatives in order to contribute to the formulation of public policies. The research observed the development of Legislative Communities housed in the experience in question, able to engage any interested user, and it could identify an attempt to play the optimal model based on the binomial deliberation-voting, designed to guide the operation of the process of political decision production within the committees. It appears, however, a lack of systematization, at the portal, required by this ideal model, since there is an effective link between the stages of debate and decision. From this perspective, we have delimited as empirical corpus two communities whose discussions are of fundamental importance for the country - those aiming to participate in the construction of laws related to Brazilian budget 2013 (Budget Guidelines Law and the Annual Budget Law). The parameters the analysis is based on were divided in to levels: 1) Participative (Information, Motivation, Channels layout) and 2) Deliberative, which was sectioned into: 2.1) Structure of the forums (Identification; Openness; Agenda; Moderation; Public Space Strong x Weak) and 2.2) Content of posts (Reason-Giving; Reciprocity; Mutual respect; Common-good orientation). By that analysis, it is concluded that the initiative gives good results in relation to the participatory criteria adopted as a parameter of this research and suitable for an experiment that aims to enhance the participatory potential preferences of their users. Regarding the deliberation moment, however, the portal has not yet be successful, just to concentrate on being a device of multiple tools, which favored the expansion of participation instead of forwarding the citizens to a more qualified contribution through the discussions developed in the forums. / O presente trabalho objetiva compreender a visão de participação e a valorização que o Poder Legislativo brasileiro, na figura da Câmara dos Deputados, faz acerca de mecanismos de participação, a partir de um estudo de caso do Portal e-Democracia, patrocinado pela referida instituição. As ferramentas do e-Democracia, por permitirem aos cidadãos participação na discussão de tópicos advindos de pauta legislativa, trazem à tona a utilização da internet como elemento possivelmente eficaz de ligação entre representantes e representados. Em outras palavras, a proposta do e-Democracia consiste na geração de debates, tanto entre os cidadãos quanto entre estes e seus representantes, a fim de contribuir para a formulação de políticas públicas. A pesquisa se concentrou em observar o desenvolvimento das Comunidades Legislativas abrigadas na experiência em questão, aptas a envolverem qualquer usuário interessado, sendo possível identificar no processo que nelas se desenvolve uma tentativa de reprodução do modelo ideal baseado no binômio deliberação-votação, desenhado para guiar o funcionamento do processo de produção da decisão política no âmbito das Comissões. Constata-se, contudo, a falta, no portal, da sistematização requerida por esse modelo ideal, uma vez que não se efetiva a ligação entre as etapas de debate e decisão. Nessa perspectiva, delimitaram-se como corpus empírico duas Comunidades cujas discussões são de fundamental importância para o país – aquelas que visam à participação na construção das leis ligadas ao orçamento brasileiro de 2013 (Lei de Diretrizes Orçamentárias e Lei Orçamentária Anual). Os parâmetros sob os quais foi realizada a análise subdividiram-se em dois níveis: 1) Participativo (Provimento de informação, Motivação aos cidadãos; Perfil dos Canais) e 2) Deliberativo, sendo este, ainda, posto em duas instâncias: 2.1) Estrutura dos fóruns (Identificação; Abertura/Liberdade; Agenda; Moderação; Espaço Público Forte x Fraco) e 2.2) Conteúdo das postagens (Provimento de razões; Reciprocidade; Respeito mútuo; Orientação para o Bem-Comum). Por meio da análise empírica, conclui-se que, a iniciativa apresenta bons resultados quanto aos critérios participativos adotados como parâmetro na pesquisa. Em relação à deliberação, contudo, o portal ainda não apresenta ser bem sucedido, justamente por concentrar-se em atuar na condição de dispositivo dotado de múltiplas ferramentas, o que privilegiou a ampliação da participação em vez de encaminhar os cidadãos a contribuírem de forma mais qualificada, através das discussões desenvolvidas nos fóruns.

A Política Nacional de Juventude tem proposto a criação de políticas públicas calcadas nas concepções alternativas de democracia. Dessa forma, o problema posto para investigação é: as políticas públicas de juventude devem ser respostas eficientes para resolução ou amenização de demandas sócio-políticas determinadas que promovam governabilidade, ou devem contemplar uma visão mais ampla da política e promover o exercício cidadão intrínseco à própria políticademocrática? O objetivo da tese é analisar a participação política juvenil na construção da cultura política e sua percepção sobre a Política Nacional de Juventude no Brasil. Em uma perspectiva democrática, a pesquisa centra-se na juventude brasileira contemporânea e se caracteriza por um estudo de cultura política, que se alia aos estudos sobre política de juventude – instituições, ações, comportamentos e demandas da categoria em relação ao Estado e reciprocamente. A investigação pretende alcançar os seguintes objetivosespecíficos, 1) Perceber quais valores culturais e concepções da política têm se estimulado no Brasil; 2) Analisar os tipos e níveis de participação política dos/as jovens brasileiros/as; 3) Verificar a associação entre participação, cultura política e percepção de políticas públicas de Juventude no Brasil. Dessa maneira, através da metodologia quantitativa, foram analisados dados oriundos de surveys aplicados junto a jovens brasileiros/as de 18 a 29 anos, que compõe o banco de dados sobre juventude do IBASE-2008. Tais dados forma analisados através do cruzamento de variáveis, que foram submetidas ao teste qui-quadrado (ᵡ²), a analise de coeficiente de contingência e análisefatorial. As conclusões demonstram a tendência dos/as jovens a aprovarem a participação política não convencional. Os resultados obtidos apontam para associação entre participação e tolerância frente às diferenças em três casos de variáveis; nos outros casos testados os resultado obtidos apontam para inexistência de associação. Já os resultados obtidos nos cruzamentos sobre participação política dos/as jovens com a demonstração do conhecimento sobre a existência de projeto do governo direcionado para o/a jovem no país, exibem uma associação significativa entre essas variáveis. Os dados demonstraram, também, que a participação em qualquer instituição, não obrigatoriamente as de conotação política, proporciona maior conhecimento de projetos do governo. Os dados puderam ser separados em dois componentes de fatores, aqueles que se aproximam de uma participação mais institucional, ligada à noção de participação política, e uma participação mais cultural vinculada à noção de lazer e esporte. Entre esses dois componentes a percepção do/a jovem sobre o governo melhora dentre aqueles que participam em entidades ligadas a recreação e a religião, ou seja, a participação cultural. O somatório dos fatores observados aponta para confirmação da tese de que: a Política Nacional de Juventude não tem reforçado a ação da sociedade civil na construção de uma política com a juventude, mas sim aperfeiçoado mecanismos que permitem o Estado melhorar as repostas dadas aos/as jovens cidadãos/ãs para, assim, melhorar as condições de governabilidade no Brasil. / The National Youth Policy has been proposing the creation of public policies based on the alternative conceptions of democracy. That way, the research problem to the investigation is: the public policies for youth must be efficient responses to resolution or ease the appointed social-political demands that promote governability, or must contemplate a broader vision of politics and promote the citizen‘s exercise intrinsic to one‘s own democratic politics? The purpose of this thesis is to analyze youth political participation in the construction of political culture and its perception on the National Youth Policy in Brazil. Ina democratic perspective, the research focuses on contemporary Brazilian youth and is characterized by a study of political culture, which joins studies on youth policy- institutions, actions, behaviors and demands of the category in relation to the State and reciprocally. The research aims to achieve the following specific objectives: 1) To understand what cultural values and conceptions of politics have been stimulated in Brazil; 2) Analyze the types and levels of political participation of Brazilian youth; 3) to verify the association between participation, political culture and perception of public policies of Youth in Brazil. Thus, through the quantitative methodology, data from surveys applied to Brazilian youth from 18 to 29 years old, which compose the IBASE-2008 youth database, were analyzed. These data were analyzed through the crossing of variables, which were submitted to the chi-square test (ᵡ²), the contingency coefficient analysis and factoranalysis. The findings demonstrate the tendency of young people to approve unconventional political participation. The results obtained point to an association between participation and tolerance to differences in three cases of variables; in the other cases tested the results obtained point to no association. On the other hand, the results obtained in the crossings on the political participation of the young people with the demonstration of the knowledge about the political participation of the young people with the demonstration of the knowledge about the existence of a government project directed to the young person in the country, show a significant association between thesevariables. The data also showed that participation in any institution, not necessarily those of political connotation, provides greater knowledge of government projects. The data could be separated into two components of factors, those that approach a more institutional participation in any institution, not necessarily those of political connotation, provides greater knowledge of government projects. The data could be separated into two components of factor, those that approach more institutional participation, liked to the notion of political participation, and a more cultural participation linked to the notion of leisure and sport. Between these two components the youth‘s perception of the government improves among those who participate in entities liked to recreation and religion, that is, cultural participation. The sum of the observed factors points to confirmation of the thesis that: the National Youth Policy has not reinforced the action of civil society in the construction of a policy with youth, but rather improved mechanisms that allow the State to improve the responses given to the Young citizens to improve the conditions of governability in Brazil.

O desenvolvimento da economia brasileira exige investimentos de natureza energética para seu bom desempenho. Nesse sentido, as medidas adotadas ao longo do século XX no país foram em sua maioria construções de Usinas Hidrelétricas de Energia. Entretanto, esses empreendimentos atingem milhares de pessoas, afetando a vida social, política e comunitária desta população. Nesse caso, pesquisas apontam que a presença de capital social em comunidades proporcionam a cooperação entre os seus membros, uma vez que, entre as relações sociais, predominam a confiança e a reciprocidade. Com base nestas considerações, verifica-se qual a relação entre os níveis de capital social de uma comunidade que passou pelo processo de remanejamento compulsório, com as formas de participação em atividades políticas da mesma. Para isso, utiliza-se os dados coletados pelo Projeto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento “Avaliação dos Resultados e Proposição de Modelo de Elaboração de Programas de Remanejamento da População Atingida por Empreendimentos Hidrelétricos (2010-2014)” no interior do sul do Brasil, na região do alto do rio Uruguai. O trabalho identifica que o capita social encapsulado nas comunidades analisadas pode ter contribuído para viabilizar mobilizações políticas, embora estas não tivessem sido capazes de desencadear conquistas sociais permanentes, no âmbito da cultura política, para os atingidos por UHEs. / The development of the Brazilian economy demands energetic investments in order to achieve a good performance. In fact, the majority of measures taken during the 20th century were the construction of Hydroelectric Power Plants. Nevertheless, these developments affect thousands of people, influencing their social, political and community life. In this case, researches show that the presence of social capital in communities enable a cooperation among their members, once among the social relationships, there is the predominance of trust and reciprocity. Based on these considerations, we verify what the relation is between the levels of the social capital of a community that went through the process of compulsory relocation and the ways of participation in political activities of it. Thus, it is used data collected by the Research and Development Project “Assessment of Results and Proposition of Model and Elaboration of Programs of Relocation of the Population affected by Hydroelectric Developments (2010 – 2014)” in the countryside of Southern region in Brazil, specifically in the region of the high Uruguay River. This paper identifies that the social capital encapsulated in the communities analyzed may have contributed to enable political mobilizations, though these had not been able to initiate permanent social achievements, in the political culture, to the ones affected by HPPs.