The World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2004:20) describes a community as a social group of any size, with its members residing in a specific locality, sharing government and a common cultural and historical heritage. In the context of health, a community can be considered as those who are affected by similar health issues, or it can simply be defined as stakeholders, such as health professionals or patients. Community participation is collaboration in which people voluntarily, or due to some incentive, collaborate with externally determined projects, either contributing their labour and/or resources for some expected benefit. Within the health system community participation can either be guided by law or regulations, for instance, the White Paper for Transformation of the Health System in South Africa and the South African patients' bill of rights charter, or it can be on a voluntary basis without any guidelines. The researcher believes that the focus should be on how the community can participate in the decisions that affect their health. The research was aimed at exploring and describing a rural community’s perceptions on community participation in Primary Health Care (PHC) services rendered to improve the quality of the current PHC services. The main question asked was: What does effective community participation in PHC services entails to improve the quality of health care according to the community members’ perspectives in a rural community? A qualitative research approach was used to conduct the research on the perceptions of community members on community participation in PHC services. The research took place in Dewetsdorp, a rural area situated in the Xhariep district of the Free State province in South Africa. Data was collected by means of focus groups, making use of a semi-structured interview schedule consisting of four questions in an endeavour to reach an answer on the research question. Three focus groups realised; one consisting of the community leaders as members of the community, another consisting of members from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the last consisting of community members utilising the PHC services in Dewetsdorp. Digitally voice recorded focus groups were transcribed for data analysis. Data saturation occurred after three focus groups, with an average of seven participants per group. The themes that emerged from the focus groups are discussed with literature integration. The findings of the research suggest that the community members of Dewetsdorp have a strong sense that community participation should form part of the PHC services. They expressed the view that they play an important role that should be acknowledged and they want to be respected as partners who are willing to take ownership of the PHC services in their community through participation. From the research results and conclusions, the researcher compiled recommendations for nursing education, nursing research and primary health care nursing practice. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO, 2004:20) describes a community as a social group of any size, with its members residing in a specific locality, sharing government and a common cultural and historical heritage. In the context of health, a community can be considered as those who are affected by similar health issues, or it can simply be defined as stakeholders, such as health professionals or patients. Community participation is collaboration in which people voluntarily, or due to some incentive, collaborate with externally determined projects, either contributing their labour and/or resources for some expected benefit. Within the health system community participation can either be guided by law or regulations, for instance, the White Paper for Transformation of the Health System in South Africa and the South African patients' bill of rights charter, or it can be on a voluntary basis without any guidelines. The researcher believes that the focus should be on how the community can participate in the decisions that affect their health. The research was aimed at exploring and describing a rural community’s perceptions on community participation in Primary Health Care (PHC) services rendered to improve the quality of the current PHC services. The main question asked was: What does effective community participation in PHC services entails to improve the quality of health care according to the community members’ perspectives in a rural community? A qualitative research approach was used to conduct the research on the perceptions of community members on community participation in PHC services. The research took place in Dewetsdorp, a rural area situated in the Xhariep district of the Free State province in South Africa. Data was collected by means of focus groups, making use of a semi-structured interview schedule consisting of four questions in an endeavour to reach an answer on the research question. Three focus groups realised; one consisting of the community leaders as members of the community, another consisting of members from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the last consisting of community members utilising the PHC services in Dewetsdorp. Digitally voice recorded focus groups were transcribed for data analysis. Data saturation occurred after three focus groups, with an average of seven participants per group. The themes that emerged from the focus groups are discussed with literature integration. The findings of the research suggest that the community members of Dewetsdorp have a strong sense that community participation should form part of the PHC services. They expressed the view that they play an important role that should be acknowledged and they want to be respected as partners who are willing to take ownership of the PHC services in their community through participation. From the research results and conclusions, the researcher compiled recommendations for nursing education, nursing research and primary health care nursing practice. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The dawn of democracy and adoption of the new constitution heralded in a new political dispensation for South Africa. These development set local government in a new path as various pieces of legislations and policies were passed to transform local government from fragmented and racially – based municipalities into democratic and non – racial entities. Transformation did not end on amalgamation of racial municipal entities and change to racial composition of the administration staff but has to transcend beyond to ensure accountability, transparency, responsive and participation of communities in the affairs of local government to promote good governance. The Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) established various structures, systems and processes intend on promoting transformation. However, its process of transformation is limited only to the structure and composition of the administration. Little was done to transform the reigning culture which has its roots in the apartheid past, despite the existence of policies including the White Paper on the Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele). Accordingly, the existence of new structures, systems and processes failed to curb corruption in the ranks of Sedibeng District Municipality. Currently, a number of staff members are facing various charges of fraud and corruption. The Auditor – General have found that millions of rands have spent without proper procedure being followed. The state of affairs give indications that existing structures, systems and processes are not solid enough to curb corruption. Furthermore, the situation is accentuated by the municipality’s failure to involve communities in the affairs of the local government. Communities are only used to rubber – stamp processes and programmes that are imposed by the municipality. This renders communities and community organisations useless and ineffective in holding the councillors accountable. Against the background of the problem statement, the hypotheses of the study were formulated as follows: * There is a non – compliance of municipal regulations required for transformation and good governance at Sedibeng District Municipality. * The leadership of the municipality does not possess adequate knowledge and the political will to monitor and ensure consistent adherence to regulations as required by law to promote transformation and good governance. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The study involved a number of techniques to gather information which includes literature study and empirical research. The findings of the study prove that there is a high level non – compliance of municipal regulations required to promote good governance at Sedibeng District Municipality. The responses of senior management also prove that there is a clear lack of leadership in the Sedibeng District Municipality. The study offers significant recommendations to improve the situation. The intend of the study was to explore and open avenue for further research in the field of change management (transformation of behaviour and culture), impact of cadre deployment in municipal performance and idea of public participation and involvement in the affairs of local government. / M Development and Management (Public Management and Governance), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

This thesis is an overview of the source material, methodologies, artistic influences, and conceptual decisions that inform my artwork and characterize my art practice. Utilizing participation (audience, community, viewer), I engineer experiences and encounters for the general public. Whether through directed physical interaction or implicit reaction, I create open-ended situations or environments that I may influence, but not fully control. The democratic cede of authorial control, as well as the heightened risk and unpredictably in my work, instigates a more positive, non-hierarchical social model in which every viewer is an “author,” who produces content and communication signals, and has a voice and a presence in society.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The focus of the study is on the implementation of public policies through provision of basic services such as water and sanitation in the City of Cape Town. The case study of the research is the informal settlements of Khayelitsha area which falls under the jurisdiction of the City of Cape Town. The study identified and analysed the socioeconomic conditions of the people living in the informal settlements of Khayelitsha and the impact of such conditions to their lives. The study emphasizes the role of all spheres of government in the implementation of public policies.The study identified various challenges faced by government in the implementation of public policies, particularly at local government level. Among the challenges is the lack of communication, lack of public participation and lack of capacity. The study emphasizes the importance of intergovernmental relations and cooperate governance in order to achieve the objectives of good governance and effective and efficient service delivery. The study reveals that civil society plays an important role in the implementation of public policies and also holds the government accountable to the people. It is important to indicate that government cannot achieve the goals and objectives of providing clean water and adequate sanitation facilities if communities do not form part of the structures that implement projects and programmes of development in their respective areas.Hence, the study emphasizes the importance of communication and consultation of communities on issues that directly affect them. The study emphasizes the fact that communities need to take control of the resources and infrastructure provided to them in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure of replacing and repairing resources damaged and destroyed by the very same community.

A palavra participação tem aparecido nos mais variados discursos. Mas afinal, que participação é essa? Considerando o âmbito da promoção da saúde e seus pressupostos, a participação é citada como uma das condições fundamentais para que as comunidades assumam o controle sobre sua saúde. Percebe-se que há uma grande distância entre o que propõem os principais documentos referentes à promoção da saúde e o que realmente é colocado em prática. Uma das formas mais importantes de estimular a participação comunitária é por meio do processo educativo. Para entender como esses processos educativos vêm ocorrendo em áreas de proteção ambiental de modo que atenda os pressupostos da promoção da saúde, esta pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de identificar e analisar as ações de educação em saúde e de educação ambiental desenvolvidas pelo poder público municipal nas áreas de mananciais de Santo André/SP e as formas de participação da comunidade local nesses processos, bem como suas percepções sobre tais ações. A metodologia utilizada para a pesquisa foi de abordagem quali-quantitativa, tendo como instrumentos a análise documental; entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas. As entrevistas foram iniciadas após prévia aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa e consentimento esclarecido dos entrevistados. Os sujeitos eram adultos de ambos os sexos residentes em 02 áreas da região de Paranapiacaba e Parque Andreense e funcionários da Prefeitura de Santo André. Os principais resultados mostraram que as ações de saúde desenvolvidas na região de estudo ainda são vistas predominantemente sob o prisma da prevenção e não como um processo educativo capaz de subsidiar e alcançar alguns dos objetivos da promoção da saúde, como o desenvolvimento de habilidades pessoais e o reforço à ação comunitária. Entre as ações relacionadas ao meio ambiente predominou o conhecimento das ações de fiscalização ambiental em detrimento das ações de educação. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram a importância de ações educativas como parte de um processo e não como práticas isoladas. A partir da análise dos depoimentos dos entrevistados, notouse que os mecanismos de divulgação e participação têm sido ineficientes, pois muitos desconhecem tais materiais de divulgação, assim como os espaços de participação e seus representantes. Os principais obstáculos citados pelos moradores entrevistados na relação poder públicosociedade civil estavam ligados à efetivação de ações de infra-estrutura e opções de geração de renda, falta de retorno às solicitações feitas, falta de diálogo entre os técnicos e a comunidade e formas de divulgação mais variadas e com abordagens diferenciadas. Concluiu-se que os sujeitos desta pesquisa ainda não detêm a habilidade para participar e para assumir uma postura pró-ativa frente ao local em que moram e à sua própria saúde, assim como o poder público precisa aprimorar as ações já desenvolvidas de modo que consiga concretizar a intersetorialidade e a promoção de processos educativos que realmente tenham cunho político, que criem condições para que a população se aproprie dos locais em que mora e aprenda a colocar em prática uma participação ativa, exigindo e agindo em prol de seu bemestar e de sua saúde. / The word participation has appeared in various speeches. But after all, what participation is that? Considering the scope of health promotion and its assumptions, participation is referred as a key condition for communities to assume control over their health. It is evident that there is a great distance between recommendations from the main documents relating to health promotion and what is actually put into practice. One of the most important ways of encouraging community participation is through the educational process. To understand how these educational processes are occurring in areas of environmental protection in order to meet the requirements of health promotion, this research objective consist on identify and analyze the measures of health education and environmental education developed by the municipal public authority in the watershed areas of Santo André/SP and how does local community participate in these processes, as well as their perceptions about such measures. The methodology adopted for this research was a quailquantitative approach, using as tools document analysis, structured and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were undertaken after prior approval of the Research Ethics Committee and informed consent of interviewees. Subjects were both gender adults, civil servants of the Municipality of Santo André. The main results showed that the health measures developed in the studied region are still predominantly seen from the point of view of prevention and not as an educational process able to support and achieve some of the goals of health promotion, such as the development of personal skills and strengthening to community action. Among the actions related to the environment, the awareness about measures on environmental inspection predominated in detriment to measures on education. Data analysis showed the importance of educational measures as part of a process and not as isolated practices. The analysis of the testimonials of interviewees showed that the mechanisms for diffusion and participation have been ineffective, because many dont know about such advertising materials, and they dont know the places of participation and their representatives as well. The main obstacles cited by the interviewed residents in the publiccivil society relation were linked to the realization of infrastructure measures and options for generating income, lack of response to their requests, lack of dialogue between the technicians and the community and more varied forms of diffusion and with different approaches. It was concluded that the subjects of this research have not developed yet the ability to participate and to take a proactive stance in their neighborhood and for their own health, and the public authority needs to improve the already undertaken measures as well, in order to achieve intersectoriality and promotion of educational measures with a really political character, which creates conditions for the population to take ownership of where they live and so they can learn to put into practice an active participation, demanding and acting on behalf of their welfare and their health

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:30:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Alberto Lopes.pdf: 8154603 bytes, checksum: eba565c8ea2510af6320831180ea3cae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-03 / This research presents the measurement of levels of social capital in six interrelated dimensions in three neighborhoods in different cities in São Paulo State. The methodology used a questionnaire with closed questions and covers a total of 81respondents. The theoretical research is centered on Robert D. Putnam with other subsidies from James Coleman and Pierre Boudieu and methodological contributions from researches of Social Capital Thematic Group of World Bank. Derived from the data was set an exploratory index of social capital that is presented as the first step towards the improvement of instruments for research on social capital / Esta pesquisa apresenta a mensuração de níveis de capital social em 6 dimensões inter-relacionadas em três bairros de diferentes cidades no Estado de São Paulo. Foi utilizada a metodologia de questionário com perguntas fechadas e abrange um total de 81 entrevistados. O aporte teórico esta centrado nas pesquisas de Robert D. Putnam com outros subsídios a partir de James Coleman e Pierre Bourdieu e o aporte metodológico parte das pesquisas do Grupo Temático sobre Capital Social do Banco Mundial. Derivado dos dados obtidos foi estabelecido um índice exploratório de capital social que é apresentado como primeiro passo para o aprimoramento de instrumentos de pesquisa sobre capital social

Esta pesquisa insere-se na linha de pesquisa, política, planejamento e gestão ambiental do Departamento de Saúde Ambiental da Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo. Tem por objetivo apontar alternativas que facilitem a participação social junto à gestão ambiental municipal no Brasil por meio da identificação dos principais fatores condicionantes deste processo. Parte-se do pressuposto que a participação social é um dos condicionantes que interferem para melhoria da gestão ambiental na esfera municipal como forma de fortalecer e aprofundar a democracia local, possibilitando à sociedade inserir-se na gestão ambiental municipal. Para tanto, realizou-se pesquisa de dados secundários, análise bibliográfica do que já se produziu sobre este tema no Brasil, centrando-se em artigos científicos, teses de doutorado e dissertações de mestrado entre os anos 2000 e 2010, buscados nas bases de dados: Cab Abstract, Scielo (Brasil), Lilacs, Pubmed, Repidisca, Dedalus (USP) e Web of Science. Como resultado, foi identificado um conjunto de fatores condicionantes a participação social na gestão ambiental municipal brasileira, destacando-se, como os mais citados: a questão da divulgação e acesso as informações; educação individual para bom desempenho da participação coletiva; percepção de problemas/demandas locais como incentivo a participação; identidade e valorização local; e dificuldades de acesso às instituições participativas. Esses resultados vão ao encontro de uma concordância na literatura sobre o tema e que pode ser expressa por meio das seguintes questões: como é possível pensar participação da sociedade junto à gestão ambiental nos municípios brasileiros sem informação? Sem educação e capacitação? Sem valorização do território? Sem descentralização do poder? Sem integração, articulação e parceria dos setores do governo entre si e com a sociedade civil? Assim, espera-se com esta pesquisa fornecer subsídios para avanço dos processos de gestão ambiental municipal fundamentado na participação social / This research is part of the research line in policy, planning and environmental management of the Environmental Health Department of School of Public Health, University of São Paulo. Aims to present alternatives that facilitate social participation by the municipal environmental management in Brazil by identifying the main conditioning factors this process. It starts from the assumption that social participation is a decisive factor for improved environmental management at municipal level in order to strengthen and improve foundations for strong local democracy, enabling the society to be part of the municipal services management. Therefore, was a survey of the literature and analysis that has been written on this subject in Brazil, focusing on scientific articles, doctoral theses and dissertations between 2000 and 2010, sought in the databases: Cab Abstract , SciELO (Brazil), Lilacs, Pubmed, Repidisca, Dedalus (USP) and Web of Science. As a result, a set of conditioning factors of social participation in municipal environmental management in Brazil was identified, especially: the issue of disclosure and access to information, education for individual performance of collective participation, problems perception / local demands as an incentive for participation, identity and recovery site and difficult access to participatory institutions. These results are in line with an agreement in the literature on the subject in question, in this way, how thinking in society participation in environmental management by the municipalities without information? Without education and training? Without improving the area? Without power decentralization? Without integration, coordination and partnership of government sectors among themselves and with civil society? Thus, it is hoped this research provide support for the advancement of municipal environmental management processes based on social participation

A palavra participação tem aparecido nos mais variados discursos. Mas afinal, que participação é essa? Considerando o âmbito da promoção da saúde e seus pressupostos, a participação é citada como uma das condições fundamentais para que as comunidades assumam o controle sobre sua saúde. Percebe-se que há uma grande distância entre o que propõem os principais documentos referentes à promoção da saúde e o que realmente é colocado em prática. Uma das formas mais importantes de estimular a participação comunitária é por meio do processo educativo. Para entender como esses processos educativos vêm ocorrendo em áreas de proteção ambiental de modo que atenda os pressupostos da promoção da saúde, esta pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de identificar e analisar as ações de educação em saúde e de educação ambiental desenvolvidas pelo poder público municipal nas áreas de mananciais de Santo André/SP e as formas de participação da comunidade local nesses processos, bem como suas percepções sobre tais ações. A metodologia utilizada para a pesquisa foi de abordagem quali-quantitativa, tendo como instrumentos a análise documental; entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas. As entrevistas foram iniciadas após prévia aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa e consentimento esclarecido dos entrevistados. Os sujeitos eram adultos de ambos os sexos residentes em 02 áreas da região de Paranapiacaba e Parque Andreense e funcionários da Prefeitura de Santo André. Os principais resultados mostraram que as ações de saúde desenvolvidas na região de estudo ainda são vistas predominantemente sob o prisma da prevenção e não como um processo educativo capaz de subsidiar e alcançar alguns dos objetivos da promoção da saúde, como o desenvolvimento de habilidades pessoais e o reforço à ação comunitária. Entre as ações relacionadas ao meio ambiente predominou o conhecimento das ações de fiscalização ambiental em detrimento das ações de educação. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram a importância de ações educativas como parte de um processo e não como práticas isoladas. A partir da análise dos depoimentos dos entrevistados, notouse que os mecanismos de divulgação e participação têm sido ineficientes, pois muitos desconhecem tais materiais de divulgação, assim como os espaços de participação e seus representantes. Os principais obstáculos citados pelos moradores entrevistados na relação poder públicosociedade civil estavam ligados à efetivação de ações de infra-estrutura e opções de geração de renda, falta de retorno às solicitações feitas, falta de diálogo entre os técnicos e a comunidade e formas de divulgação mais variadas e com abordagens diferenciadas. Concluiu-se que os sujeitos desta pesquisa ainda não detêm a habilidade para participar e para assumir uma postura pró-ativa frente ao local em que moram e à sua própria saúde, assim como o poder público precisa aprimorar as ações já desenvolvidas de modo que consiga concretizar a intersetorialidade e a promoção de processos educativos que realmente tenham cunho político, que criem condições para que a população se aproprie dos locais em que mora e aprenda a colocar em prática uma participação ativa, exigindo e agindo em prol de seu bemestar e de sua saúde. / The word participation has appeared in various speeches. But after all, what participation is that? Considering the scope of health promotion and its assumptions, participation is referred as a key condition for communities to assume control over their health. It is evident that there is a great distance between recommendations from the main documents relating to health promotion and what is actually put into practice. One of the most important ways of encouraging community participation is through the educational process. To understand how these educational processes are occurring in areas of environmental protection in order to meet the requirements of health promotion, this research objective consist on identify and analyze the measures of health education and environmental education developed by the municipal public authority in the watershed areas of Santo André/SP and how does local community participate in these processes, as well as their perceptions about such measures. The methodology adopted for this research was a quailquantitative approach, using as tools document analysis, structured and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were undertaken after prior approval of the Research Ethics Committee and informed consent of interviewees. Subjects were both gender adults, civil servants of the Municipality of Santo André. The main results showed that the health measures developed in the studied region are still predominantly seen from the point of view of prevention and not as an educational process able to support and achieve some of the goals of health promotion, such as the development of personal skills and strengthening to community action. Among the actions related to the environment, the awareness about measures on environmental inspection predominated in detriment to measures on education. Data analysis showed the importance of educational measures as part of a process and not as isolated practices. The analysis of the testimonials of interviewees showed that the mechanisms for diffusion and participation have been ineffective, because many dont know about such advertising materials, and they dont know the places of participation and their representatives as well. The main obstacles cited by the interviewed residents in the publiccivil society relation were linked to the realization of infrastructure measures and options for generating income, lack of response to their requests, lack of dialogue between the technicians and the community and more varied forms of diffusion and with different approaches. It was concluded that the subjects of this research have not developed yet the ability to participate and to take a proactive stance in their neighborhood and for their own health, and the public authority needs to improve the already undertaken measures as well, in order to achieve intersectoriality and promotion of educational measures with a really political character, which creates conditions for the population to take ownership of where they live and so they can learn to put into practice an active participation, demanding and acting on behalf of their welfare and their health

Esta pesquisa buscou contribuir para os conhecimentos relativos ao financiamento e à gestão democrática da educação cuja questão principal é a análise da política municipal dos recursos financeiros descentralizados para as escolas de Dourados (MS) no período de 2005 a 2008. Buscou-se analisar a política de descentralização dos recursos financeiros implantada na gestão do PT de Dourados (MS) (2005-2008), compreendendo-a no bojo das disputas sociais como instrumento importante na alteração da correlação de forças que visa à radicalização da democracia na escola, compreendendo até que ponto ela contribuiu para democratizar a gestão da escola. A metodologia da pesquisa foi descritivo-analítica e incluiu tanto a análise de documentos (dados diretos produzidos no município, como atas, relatórios, planos de trabalho, legislação, dados diretos e indiretos, em especial do FNDE/MEC, como relatórios de prestação de contas, orçamento, legislação, entre outros) quanto entrevistas realizadas com diferentes sujeitos gestores municipais, pais, alunos, professores e direção de duas escolas públicas municipais de Ensino Fundamental sobre a gestão e a política dos recursos financeiros descentralizados, indagando até que ponto ela pressupôs o exercício das práticas participativas visando à democratização da gestão da escola. Trabalhou-se inicialmente com a hipótese de que a política de descentralização dos recursos financeiros para as escolas municipais de Dourados (MS), implantada pela administração do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) não foi conduzida de forma participativa, bem como esteve permeada por princípios da racionalidade técnica instrumental. A matriz para análise se sustenta em alguns pressupostos teóricos que analisam os programas descentralizantes, demonstrando a importância da política de descentralização de recursos financeiros para as escolas (CAMARGO, 1997) e compreendendo que a tendência de universalização das políticas de assistência financeira automática indica a insuficiência de recursos financeiros para alcançar resultados redistributivos que surtam efeitos de equalização de oportunidades educacionais nas escolas (FARENZENA, 2010), de modo que esses programas compõem a política de financiamento educacional que, em última instância, visa assegurar a política macroeconômica do Estado (CRUZ, 2009). Os dados coletados foram organizados em quatro chaves de análise, a saber: a) a gestão da escola na visão dos agentes escolares; b) mecanismos de gestão democrática e a participação da comunidade escolar; c) a participação da comunidade da escola na gestão dos recursos financeiros descentralizados; d) as decisões e as estratégias de gestão dos recursos financeiros nas escolas. Os resultados revelam que a política de descentralização de recursos financeiros elaborada na gestão do PT, embora demonstrasse limitações quanto às formas de gestão participativa, repercutiu positivamente entre os sujeitos das escolas, sem, contudo, contribuir para alterar as práticas de gestão patrimonialista que visam excluir os pais e alunos das decisões tomadas pela escola. / This study aims at the funding and democratic administration of public education. Its main focus is an analysis of municipal policy for decentralized school funding resources in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, between 2005 and 2008. Such policy analysis assesses its contributions to a democratic school administration. A descriptive-analytical methodology was applied to this study. It included an analysis of documents (produced in the municipal district: minutes, reports, work plans, legislation, etc.; and in the federal departments, especially FNDE / MEC, through reports, budgets, legislations, etc.) andinterviews with different subjects municipal managers, parents, students, teachers and principals of two municipal public elementary schools. The focus was on policies and the administration of decentralized funding resourcesto assess how and when community practicesare needed for the democratization of schooladministration. The first hypothesis shows that the policies for decentralization of funding resources in Dourados municipal schools, implemented by the PT(Workers Party) administration within that period, were not based on community practices. Actually, they were based on principles of instrumental/technical rationality. Three points were taken into consideration in this study: the importance of decentralization policies for schoolfunding resources (CAMARGO, 1997); the assessment of redistributed resources which balanced education opportunities in schools (FARENZENA, 2010); and education funding policies thatwere coherent to the Brazilian macroeconomicpolitics (CRUZ, 2009). Collected data were organized in four (04) analysis groups: a) the school administration from the school agents\' point of view; b) the mechanisms of democratic administration and the participationof the school community; c) the participation of the school communityin the administration of decentralized funding resources; d) administration decisions and strategies for school funding resources. The results show that the decentralization policies for the funding resources developed during the PT administration, although limited as far as community administration is concerned, had positively feedback from the subjects in schools. However, it did not contribute to change the property management practices, which leave parents and students out of the decisions taken by the school administration.