Nous observons depuis les années 1970 une diversification théorique des modèles et dispositifs de la publicisation scientifique, voyant se compiler les trois formes que sont la vulgarisation, l'animation culturelle scientifique et plus récemment les débats publics instaurant un dialogue démocratique au sein des controverses socio-scientifiques. Ce phénomène de diversification théorique prend place au croisement de problématiques alliant des questionnements épistémologiques, communicationnels et finalement politiques. Cependant, si le philosophe Jürgen Habermas voyait une détermination directe du positionnement épistémologique des acteurs/agents de la recherche sur leurs pratiques communicationnelles au sein de tels dispositifs, cette perspective apparaît peu adaptée au regard des observations et de la théorie sociologique contemporaines. Une pratique théorique accordant une prévalence de la théorie sur la pratique communicationnelle ne permet de relever de manière satisfaisante ni les enjeux sociaux prenant place dans la théorie elle-même, ni d'objectiver de manière distanciée les phénomènes d'objectivation des relations sociales propres au complexe sciences sociétés. Le principal risque étant l'intégration des normes et valeurs culturelles d'un habitus socioprofessionnel spécifique au champ scientifique au sein des résultats des activités théoriques elles-mêmes. Ce travail portant sur les valeurs et pratiques culturelles des acteurs/agents de la recherche engagés dans les phénomènes de publicisation des sciences, nous avons développé quatre volets empiriques dans le cadre de la préparation d'une thèse en Sciences de l'Information et de la Communication. Les trois premiers volets s'appuient sur un corpus d'entretiens semi-directifs, d'observations et d'analyse des contenus produits par des acteurs de la recherche engagés dans trois dispositifs distincts et correspondant, dans certaines limites, aux modèles théoriques susmentionnés : une publication de vulgarisation, les éditions 2009 et 2010 de la Fête de la Science, et les débats de la Commission Nationale du Débat Public sur les nanotechnologies et leurs enjeux. Notre quatrième volet porte sur l'étude des formations intra-académiques des doctorants allocataires pluridisciplinaires à la communication, l'information et la médiation scientifiques, ouvrant notre analyse à l'observation des phénomènes de socialisation des acteurs de la recherche par la publicisation des sciences. Ces dispositifs prenant tous place dans un même contexte géographique et temporel, leur étude permet d'observer les liens de convergence entre eux et les polypratiques potentielles des acteurs/agents de la recherche. Au cours d'une étude sociologique de la communication scientifique déployée face aux publics, la vulgarisation et son corollaire idéologique (un « fossé des connaissances », un « public profane », une « science neutre », etc.) se laissent entrevoir plutôt sous la forme d'un habitus socio-communautaire, participant à un phénomène de socialisation identitaire, et générant des schèmes perceptifs et un sens pratique jusque dans les domaines de la théorie communicationnelle et de la théorie de la connaissance. La vulgarisation tend à déborder du seul cadre de ses dispositifs formels pour redéfinir par la pratique les formes de publicisation théoriquement divergentes. Les dispositifs de débats publics institutionnalisés prenant place au sein des controverses socio-scientifiques procèdent à une mise en scène hégémonique d'une supériorité de l'expérience scientifique sur les expériences sociales « externes », calquée selon une division du monde social reposant sur une distinction fonctionnelle. Cette tradition s'intercale entre les potentiels de participation et de représentation dans l'espace public et hiérarchise les formes de l'intervention des différents acteurs/agents sociaux selon leur proximité supposée aux instances de construction des savoirs scientifiques. / We observe from the 1970s theoretical models and diversification mechanisms of scientific publicizing seeing compile the three forms are popular, scientific and cultural activities more recently public debate establishing a democratic dialogue in social controversies scientists. This phenomenon of theoretical diversification takes place at the intersection of issues combining epistemological, communicative and ultimately political questions. However, if the philosopher Jürgen Habermas saw a direct determination of epistemological positioning of actors / agents research into their communication practices within such devices, this perspective appears ill-suited in terms of observations and contemporary sociological theory. A theoretical practice giving a prevalence of the theory of communicative practice can satisfactorily address or social issues taking place in the theory itself, or to objectify so distanced phenomena own objectification of social relations complex science companies. The main risk is the integration of cultural norms and values ​​of a specific scientific field in the results of theoretical activities themselves socio-professional habitus. This work on the cultural values ​​and practices of the actors / agents involved in the research phenomena publicizing science, we have developed four empirical components in the preparation of a thesis in Information Science and communication. The first three components are based on a semi-structured interview corpus, observations and analysis of content generated by research actors involved in three separate devices and corresponding, within certain limits, the above theoretical models: a popular publication, the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Festival of Science, and the deliberations of the National Commission for Public Debate on Nanotechnology and issues. The fourth part focuses on the study of intra-academic training of doctoral recipients multidisciplinary communication, information and scientific mediation, opening our analysis to the observation of phenomena of socialization research stakeholders by publicizing science . These devices all taking place in the same geographical and temporal context, their study allows us to observe the relationship of convergence between them and potential polypratiques actors / agents research. In a sociological study of scientific communication deployed against the public, extension and its ideological corollary (a "knowledge gap", a "lay public," a "neutral science", etc..) To suggest rather in as a community-based social habitus, participating in a phenomenon of socialization identity and generating perceptual schemes and practicality into the areas of communicative theory and the theory of knowledge. Extension tends to overflow the only part of its formal mechanisms to redefine the practice forms of publicizing theoretically divergent. Devices institutionalized public debates taking place in the socio-scientific controversies conduct staged hegemonic superiority of scientific experience in social experiments "external", modeled on a division of the social world based on a distinction functional. This tradition by helping to define the conditions of access of actors / agents to institutionalized social democratic dialogue instances, is inserted between the potential of participation and representation in public space and prioritize forms of intervention stakeholders / social workers according to their proximity to the alleged instances of construction of scientific knowledge.

Os conselhos comunitários de segurança pública do Rio de Janeiro representam uma mudança institucional na área das políticas públicas de segurança. Trata-se de um canal de abertura que permite a participação no plano local, caracterizado pela busca da instauração de diferentes padrões de interação entre governo e sociedade em torno do tema segurança. Baseado nas recentes análises acerca da sociedade civil, em que esta vem sendo tratada cada vez mais como instância aproximada da esfera governamental. O trabalho propõe expor uma análise político-social do conselho comunitário do bairro Méier e suas adjacências, localizados na Zona Norte do Rio de Janeiro. Esta região é conhecida pelos contrastes sociais e elevados índices de violência, por concentrar, de uma só vez, um comércio próspero, grande número de habitantes e diversas comunidades carentes dominadas pelo tráfico de drogas e de armas. A experiência deste conselho permite conhecer que a consolidação desta arena depende não só da presença de organizações e representantes sociais aptos a reivindicar múltiplos interesses, mas também do comprometimento do governo em reconhecer essas arenas como canais privilegiados na relação entre poder público e sociedade. O conselho caracteriza-se como uma ferramenta inovadora à medida que trata de um tema conflituoso como a segurança pública. Esta arena permite a aproximação entre comunidade e instituições historicamente fechadas como as polícias militar e civil. O exercício dos conselhos comunitários de segurança pública pode colaborar para o aprofundamento de uma democracia brasileira mais participativa e de um Estado mais poroso, na medida em que aposta no envolvimento de uma sociedade civil mais organizada e atuante, de um Poder Executivo e órgãos governamentais mais dispostos ao diálogo. / The community councils of public security in Rio de Janeiro represent an institutional change in the area of public safety policies. This is an open channel that allows the participation at the local level, characterized by the pursuit of the establishment of different patterns of interaction between government and society around the theme of security. Based on the recent analysis of civil society, in which it is being treated increasingly as approximate instance of government. The paper proposes an analysis exposing political and social community council Meier neighborhood and its environs, located in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro. This region is known for social contrasts and high levels of violence, by concentrating, at once, a prosperous trade, large numbers of people and various disadvantaged communities dominated by drug trafficking and weapons. The experience of this council will be known that the consolidation of this arena depends not only on the presence of social organizations and representatives are able to claim multiple interests, but also the commitment of the government to recognize these arenas as privileged channels in the relationship between government and society. The board is characterized as an innovative tool as it is a contentious issue as public safety. This arena allows closer ties between community and institutions historically closed as the military and civil police. The exercise of the community councils of public safety can contribute to furthering a more participatory democracy in Brazil and a more porous state, as it bets on the involvement of civil society a more organized and active, an Executive Branch and government agencies more willing to dialogue.

A política urbana, em seus vetores de regulação, serviços públicos e fomento, é o conjunto de princípios, diretrizes e ações que orientam a atividade econômica de urbanização, podendo determinar condutas à iniciativa privada através da função social da propriedade. Por afetar diretamente a vida das pessoas e a conformação da propriedade nas cidades, a política urbana é, por essência, municipal. A tradição da força municipalista no Brasil, que data do período imperial, ainda que em alguns momentos sufocada, manejou tornar os Municípios entes federados, assegurando- lhes, na Constituição de 1988, autonomia e atribuições, como a execução da política urbana traçada em diretrizes gerais por leis nacionais. As diretrizes nacionais para a política urbana, elaboradas em processo participativo, deveria pautar as ações da União, Estados e Municípios no tocante aos três mencionados vetores. No entanto, notando-se a quase total ausência dos Estados, verifica-se que a União, após a Constituição de 1988, rompeu com a própria ideologia de planejamento construída com a criação do Ministério das Cidades pelo Governo Lula e, atropelando o tempo de formação das diretrizes nacionais da política urbana, lançou programas de fomento a moradias e saneamento básico, cuja execução deve ser organizada pelos Municípios, que são tecnicamente frágeis e carentes de recursos para implementar a própria política urbana. Este recorte temático permite estudar a atuação mais recente da União em política urbana que, mesmo pretendendo dar conta de mazelas históricas do país, não destoa muito do período centralizador de formulação da política urbana do Regime Militar. Em Municipalismo e Política Urbana, analisa-se a influência da União na Política Urbana Municipal. / Urban policy, as it pertains to regulation, public services and development, is the set of principles, guidelines and activities that orient the economic activities involved in urbanization. As such, urban policy can draw on the concept of the social role of property to shape the conduct of the private sector. Urban policy is essentially municipal in nature because it directly affects the lives of people and the conformation of property in cities. Being a tradition dating back to the empire in Brazil, although it has occasionally been suppressed, the municipalist movement did manage to achieve federative status for municipalities under the 1988 Constitution, which guaranteed municipal autonomy and set forth municipal responsibilities, such as the implementation of urban policies outlined by general guidelines enacted in domestic legislation. The national guidelines of Urban Policy, prepared in a participatory process, should be followed by the Federal government, the states, and municipalities. Nevertheless, in light of the noticeable and almost complete absence of participation by the states, it has been notice that the Federal government has broken ranks with the planning ideology that was crafted by the very same Lula Administration when it created the Ministry for Cities. The Administration, after riding roughshod over the timeframe for the preparation of national urban policy guidelines, began to launch programs to promote housing and basic sanitation, which implementation is meant to be organized by municipalities, that do not even have enough technical expertise or resources to implement their own urban policies. By taking this thematic approach the author can focus on the Federal Government‟s most recent efforts in terms of urban policy. Although such efforts attempt to deal with historic vices in Brazil, they ultimately do not stray far from the highly centralized urban policies formulated under the military dictatorship. The influence of the Federal Government on municipal urban policy is therefore analyzed within a framework of municipalism and urban policy.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a gestão pública das políticas educacionais no Brasil para efetivação democrática do direito à educação. Demonstra sua influência para a efetivação do direito humano à democracia cognitiva e, por consequência, para a efetivação do direito humano à democracia participativa. Verifica tecnologias jurídicas necessárias para institucionalizar a participação e a articulação entre instâncias decisórias locais e internacionais a partir do cotidiano escolar. Contribui com um índice de gestão democrática que possa avaliar e efetivar os condicionantes estruturais internos e externos da intencionalidade democrática do ambiente escolar, incluindo um condicionante de solidariedade. Os resultados foram obtidos considerando-se o campo de pesquisa da ciência jurídica em diálogo com as ciências da educação e da gestão pública. Foram selecionados métodos de procedimento monográfico por revisão bibliográfica, interpretação de normas administrativas e jurídicas, além de pesquisa empírica por entrevistas em escolas públicas da mesorregião do Norte Pioneiro do Paraná, realizadas durante o ano de 2015. Tomou-se como parâmetro normativo para as entrevistas o Plano Nacional de Educação, que propõe, dentre outras metas, a de efetivar até 2016 a gestão democrática da educação, comparando-a com condicionantes internos e externos necessários à gestão democrática do ambiente escolar, já expostos pelas obras de Vitor Paro, pretendendo avançar num condicionante de solidariedade. A análise é guiada pela concepção de que a gestão pública requer horizontalização das relações de poder pela participação dos atores em articulação da rede local e global por uma governança pública. Para isso, desde a primeira infância até o mais alto grau de amadurecimento do ser humano, deve ser efetivado o direito público subjetivo à educação política, numa democracia cognitiva do conhecimento englobante necessário para a democracia participativa, efetivando o direito público subjetivo à gestão democrática da política educacional. / This research aims at analyzing the public management of educational policies in Brazil for democratic effectuation of the right to education. It demonstrates its influence to the effectuation of the human right to democracy cognitive and, therefore, to the effectuation of the human right to participatory democracy. It checks legal technologies needed to institutionalize the participation and the articulation between local and international decision-making instances from the school everyday life. It contributes with a democratic management index that can evaluate and to carry out internal and external structural conditions of the democratic intent of the school environment, including a conditioning of solidarity. The results were obtained when considering the search field of legal science in dialogue with the sciences of education and public management. Methods of monographic procedure were selected by bibliographic review, interpretation of administrative and legal rules, besides of empirical research on interviews in public schools from Mesoregion of Pioneer North of Paraná, during the year of the 2015. It became as normative parameter for the interviews the National Education Plan, which proposes, among other goals, to effect by 2016 the democratic management of education, comparing with to internal and external necessary conditions for the democratic management of the school environment, as exposed by the works of Vitor Paro, intending to move forward in a solidarity conditioning. The analysis is guided by the conception that public management requires horizontalization of the power relationships by the participation of the actors in articulation of the local and global network, for a public governance. For this, from the early childhood to the highest degree of maturity of the human being must be effected the subjective public right to political education, in a cognitive democracy of the encompassing knowledge necessary for the participatory democracy, effecting the subjective public right of democratic management of the policy educational.

O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a implantação das Subprefeituras na cidade de São Paulo no governo de Marta Suplicy (2001-2004) como mecanismo para descentralizar atividades e recursos para serem geridos nos territórios. A pesquisa buscou compreender como esse processo adotou sua configuração política e administrativa em face da forma como o Executivo transformou esse tema no principal recurso político para construir sua coalizão de apoio junto aos vereadores. Ao mesmo tempo, essa escolha política resultou num afastamento do governo do PT da tese que vinculava descentralização com poder local e democracia participativa nos territórios. A despeito de o Orçamento Participativo ter existido, seu peso na estratégia política do governo foi secundário, ademais de ter havido um recuo na implantação dos Conselhos de Representante para não por em risco a política de alianças, visto que os vereadores eram contrários a uma instância que fiscalizaria sua atuação. Administrativamente, a descentralização tomou um curso errático, pois as Secretarias municipais temerosas de perderem poder para as Subprefeituras, o que constrangeu a forma, o ritmo e o escopo da descentralização. Desse modo, ao invés de ocorrer um processo uniforme e geral, a implantação das Subprefeituras foi irregular, já que dependeu da dinâmica de cada política setorial e seus desdobramentos nas regiões. Para tratar essas duas questões, a pesquisa realiza uma análise geral desse projeto de governo e seleciona dois casos (Freguesia do Ó e Capela do Socorro) visando discutir como tais impasses e escolhas políticas se expressaram nos territórios. / The goal of this dissertation is to analyze the implementation of the Subdistricts in the city of São Paulo in the Marta Suplicys government (2001-2004) as a mechanism to decentralize activities and resources to be managed in the territories. The research sought understanding how this process took its political and administrative configuration inface of how the Executive transformed this issue in the main political resource to build his support coalition along with the aldermen. At the same time, this political choice resulted in a departure from the PT government\'s argument that linked local decentralization with participatory democracy in the territories. Despite of the existence of the Participatory Budget, its weight in thegovernments political strategy was secondary, furthermore there has been a retreat in the implementation of the Councils of Representatives to not endanger the policy of alliances, because the aldermen were opposed to a body that would supervise their work. Administratively, the decentralization took an erratic course, because the municipal Departments were fearful of losing power to the Subdistricts, which constrained the way, the pace and scope of decentralization. Thus, instead of incurring a general and uniform process, the implementation of the Subdistricts was uneven, since it depended on the dynamics of each of the sectors and its development in the territories. To analyze this issues, the research conducts a general analysis of this government project and selects two cases (Freguesia do Ó and Capela do Socorro) addressing to discuss how such deadlocks and political choices were expressed in the territories.

nÃo hà / A Democracia Participativa vem logrando centralidade no Ãmbito das administraÃÃes pÃblicas. Dentre essas experiÃncias, o OrÃamento Participativo - OP, que vem ganhando destaque, inclusive internacionalmente, apresenta-se como uma experiÃncia exitosa de cogestÃo, que democratiza as relaÃÃes entre governo e sociedade. O seu objeto à a discussÃo do orÃamento da cidade, no qual a populaÃÃo delibera sobre as principais demandas e prioridades, permitindo a interlocuÃÃo e a discussÃo nos espaÃos criados pelo OP. Estudos admitem que o OP possibilita aos seus participantes o exercÃcio de uma cidadania ativa, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento de espaÃos de participaÃÃo popular. Essa pesquisa teve por objetivo estudar o instrumento de gestÃo democrÃtica denominado OrÃamento Participativo implementado pela gestÃo Municipal da Prefeitura de Fortaleza, no perÃodo de 2005-2008, trabalhando com a hipÃtese de que esse mecanismo de participaÃÃo popular contribui para o exercÃcio da cidadania ativa dos seus participantes. O que percebi nessa pesquisa à que a participaÃÃo de fato colabora para a formaÃÃo cidadà desses munÃcipes, pois os resultados mostraram diferentes percepÃÃes e visÃes sobre o processo, alÃm do exercÃcio do controle social. A pesquisa fez uso da metodologia quali-quanti, utliizando, dentre outros instrumentos, das entrevistas semiestruturadas e questionÃrios do tipo survey. Este estudo possibilita afirmar que a experiÃncia do OP em Fortaleza, embora seja uma experiÃncia muito recente, com um breve perÃodo analisado, està trazendo condiÃÃes favorÃveis para o exercÃcio de uma cidadania ativa. / A participatory democracy is achieving a central position in government. Among these experiments, the Participatory Budget - PB, which has been gaining attention, including internationally, presents itself as a successful experience of comanagement, more democratic relationships between government and society. Its object is to discuss the budget of the city in which people act on the major issues and priorities, allowing for dialogue and discussion in the spaces created by the PB. Studies agree that the PB allows its participants to exercise an active citizenship, contributing to the development of spaces for popular participation. This research aimed to study the management tool called democratic participatory budgeting implemented by the management of the Municipal City hall of Fortaleza in the period 2005-2008, working with the hypothesis that this mechanism for public participation contributes to the practice of active citizenship of their participants. What we perceive in this research is that participation actually contributes to civic education of householders, as the results showed different perceptions and views on the process, and the exercise of social control. The research made use of qualitative and quantitative methodology, using among other instruments, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires of the survey type. This study enables us to state that the experience of PB in Fortaleza, although a very recent experience with a short analysis period, is bringing favorable conditions for the exercise of active citizenship.

Inserida em um contexto de ressurgimento de relações autogestionárias de trabalho, esta pesquisa tem por objetivos compreender o processo de construção da cooperativa de costureiras gaúchas Unidas Venceremos (UNIVENS) e, principalmente, identificar e discutir as principais repercussões psicossociais desta experiência na vida das sócias-trabalhadoras. Ou seja, busca compreender como a vivência de relações autogestionárias de trabalho afetaram e afetam as vidas sociais de seus sujeitos, tanto no âmbito do trabalho, quanto nos espaços da família, do bairro ou até mesmo da cidade. Trata-se de um estudo de caso que teve como escolhas metodológicas a observação etnográfica e a realização de entrevistas semi-abertas de longa duração. Como resultados, este trabalho apresenta e analisa tanto o processo histórico de construção da cooperativa, como as histórias de trabalho e as principais repercussões da experiência de autogestão apontadas por quatro cooperadas. A experiência política vivida por algumas cooperadas junto ao Orçamento Participativo local surgiu como fonte simbólica da cooperativa, tendo inspirado, inclusive, parte de seus princípios, como o caráter igualitário das relações e a gestão democrática e participativa. Neste sentido, concluiu-se que foi a experiência política que propiciou a experiência econômica, e não o contrário. O direito ao trabalho, o pertencimento ao grupo da cooperativa e o enraizamento como sujeitos nos espaços da Vila e do trabalho, representam as principais repercussões destas experiências – Orçamento Participativo e cooperativa – chamadas aqui de permanências, na medida que compõem dialeticamente um campo estável de referências para essas trabalhadoras, capaz de salvaguardar a manutenção da vida familiar e o poder de intervenção de suas ações cotidianas. Dessa forma, essas permanências possibilitam o enlace firme e perene destas pessoas em seus lugares através do tempo, uma vez que passam a conhecer e a construir a história da cooperativa e do bairro (passado), a circular por estes espaços com maior apropriação e segurança (presente) e a arquitetar para eles novas ações interventivas (futuro). As permanências também se apresentaram como condições simbólicas para a ação política, por permitir a estas trabalhadoras, ainda que momentaneamente, o afastamento das atividades voltadas para a sobrevivência e o alcance da liberdade necessária para a prática da política em espaços comuns. Ainda como conclusões, esta pesquisa apresenta a possibilidade de sonhar, projetar e realizar ações políticas em horizontes mais amplos como uma repercussão de segundo grau destas permanências e, por conseguinte, desta experiência autogestionária, para seus sujeitos. / This study is closely tied to a social context which witnessed the reappearance of self-management as a characteristic of work relations. The objectives of the study are to comprehend the process of construction of the Porto Alegre-based seamstress Cooperative Unidas Venceremos (UNIVENS) and most importantly, to identify and discuss the principle socio-psychological repercussions of that experience in the lives of the worker members of the organization. In other words, this investigation strives to understand how the experiencing of self-management work relations affected, and affect, the social lives of the subjects considered, in the work environment as well as in the family, the neighborhood, and even the city. The investigation is a case-study in which the researcher opted for a methodology based on ethnographic observation and the realization of partially structured long-duration interviews. The results present and analyze the historical process of construction of the cooperative, as well as the "work histories" and the principle repercussions of the self-management experience on four members of the cooperative. The political experience which some of the members of the cooperative underwent, influenced by the local so-called Participatory Budget, surfaced as a kind of symbolic mainspring of the cooperative, having even inspired some of its principles such as the equalitarian nature of its work relations and the democratic and participatory tendencies of its management practices. Due to the above facts, the study reached the conclusion that it was the political experience that led to the economic experience, and not vice versa. The right to work, the fact of belonging to the group constituted by the cooperative, and the character of rootedness as subjects in the spaces of neighborhood and work represent the principle repercussions of these experiences – that is, of the Participatory Budget and the cooperative – and are referred to here as permanencies since they make up a dialectically-construed stable field of references for these workers, references which safeguard the maintenance of family life and the enabling power of intervention in daily life. In this way, these permanencies make possible the firm and perennial connectedness of these persons to their spaces through time, since they are able to know and construct the history of the cooperative and the community (the past), to circulate through these spaces with more of a sense of security and belongingness (the present), and to construct for themselves new ways of intervening in these particular spaces (the future). The permanencies also appeared as symbolic conditions for political action, permitting these workers, even though momentarily, to go beyond mere survival activities and to attain the necessary freedom for political practice within communal spaces. Finally, in conclusion, this study presents the possibility of dreaming, projecting and realizing political actions on a wider scale as a secondary repercussion of the above cited permanencies and, therefore, of the self-management experience itself.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:46:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandro_Miranda_Dissertacao.pdf: 1000011 bytes, checksum: 29649a529d4e5ef697a03e07aeb13d98 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-13 / Globalization is a process of intensification of relations on a global scale that related to the ecological crisis, causing major social, environmental and economic issues, calling into question the current development model. As a counterpart of this situation, several alternatives are being built locally, with particular reference to Agenda 21, participatory mechanism, arising from an agreement signed by 179 countries at the National Conference of the United Nations for Sustainable Development 1992 in Rio de Janeiro . The present study had as its central theme the construction of sustainable alternative development, based on participatory democratic processes in cities located in peripheral region, within the context of economic, social and political globalization. In the specific case, Southern São Lourenço do Sul and São José do Norte. The practical reality of the cities studied, it was found that all cases had the initiative of the municipality, and the results point to the political marginalization of Agenda 21 within the municipal administrative structure, the same spot with a share of the population in their development, being limited to environment policy. This marginalization is reinforced by the discontinuity government. In all cases, we found a relatively organized civil society and participatory, composing an emerging public sphere, but that did not prevent the emptying of the projects. / A globalização é um processo de intensificação de relações em escala mundial que associada à crise ecológica, provoca grandes problemas sociais, ambientais e econômicos, colocando em xeque o atual modelo de desenvolvimento. Como forma de contrapor esta situação, várias alternativas estão sendo construídas em âmbito local, com destaque para a Agenda 21, mecanismo participativo, oriundo de acordo assinado por 179 países na Conferência das Nacionais Unidas para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, de 1992, no Rio de Janeiro. O presente estudo teve como tema central a construção de alternativas sustentáveis de desenvolvimento, a partir de processos democráticos participativos, em cidades situadas em região periférica, dentro do contexto econômico, social e político da globalização. No caso específico, Pelotas, São Lourenço do Sul, e São José do Norte. No plano prático da realidade das cidades estudadas, foi constatado que todos os processos tiveram iniciativa da municipalidade, e os resultados obtidos apontam para a marginalização política da Agenda 21 dentro da estrutura administrativa municipal, mesmo contado com uma participação significativa da população na sua elaboração, ficando limitadas às políticas ambientais. Esta marginalização é reforçada pela descontinuidade governamental. Em todos os casos, foi possível encontrar uma sociedade civil relativamente organizada e participativa, compondo uma esfera pública emergente, mas que não impediu o esvaziamento dos projetos.

The rapidly changing political environment in our Western liberal democracies poses a big challenge not only to elected representatives but also to scholars. In this dissertation thesis I describe and clarify the main principles and ideas of the three currently most dominant, debated and promising democratic theories, namely participatory democracy, deliberative democracy and Mouffe's agonistic pluralism. Their criticisms and the most important polemics are included as well. The first theory introduced in dissertation's theoretical part is participatory democracy, which is heavily neglected in the Slovak academia. It is presented especially through the prism of Carole Pateman's, C.B. Macpherson's and Benjamin Barber's writings. Their ideas on civic engagement in public life appear to be noteworthy again, especially in the light of the changing conditions of democratic citizenship - particularly in regards to the EU-wide decline in voter turnout, increasing income inequality, downgrade of social solidarity and cooperation, growing intolerance or dissatisfaction with representative democracy and its institutions. This theory has been verified on the example of the European Citizens' Initiatives (ECI), which are deemed to be one of most promising political tools adjusting EU's democratic deficit....

Although participatory budgeting (PB) was introduced in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2005, it has yet to be widely adopted. While PB has great potential to enhance citizen participation in the democratic process, little academic research has focused on the utility of PB as a mechanism for citizen empowerment in the region. The purpose of this case study was to gain further understanding of the role of civil society in educating and empowering the citizens of Ijede LCDA in Lagos State, Nigeria to participate effectively in budgetary decision-making processes. The data were gathered from 15 semi-structured, one-on-one interviews of purposefully selected participants that included adult citizens of Ijede, government officials, politicians, and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) connected to the budget process, two follow-up focus groups with participants, and analysis of government budgetary documents. Using Avritzer's theory of participatory institutions as the foundation, the study explored stakeholder perceptions of how citizens can be effectively educated and empowered to participate in the PB process. The data revealed the fragility of PB when local government officials suspended the process because other financial demands were considered more expedient than PB, a situation made possible in the absence of a legal framework institutionalizing the process. Another major theme uncovered is that PB must engage community-based organizations to be effective. Positive social change in the form of enhanced citizen participation in the political process can come about in Nigeria if PB is implemented under an institutionalized legal framework that guarantees sustainability.