Social participation and social control in brazilian public management: advances and challenges in strengthening democracy

Abstract

The 1988 Constitution placed social participation at the center of Brazilian public management. It created councils, conferences, public hearings, and transparency tools that opened new avenues for societal decision-making and oversight. I believe these spaces have strengthened democracy. However, in practice, obstacles still hinder social participation: low representation, digital exclusion, resistance within public bodies, and the limited impact of participatory decisions on public policies. We need to address these obstacles so that social participation can fulfill its role. This text proposes to analyze the advances and challenges of participation and social control in the Brazilian public sector. The text indicates where limitations and gaps remain to strengthen participation and social control. The study follows a qualitative approach. It uses text review, document analysis, and the most recent participatory experiences. Among these experiences are participatory budgeting, open government projects, and digital democracy. The results show that participatory mechanisms have increased transparency. Participatory mechanisms have also provided more space to demand results from authorities. But much remains to be done. Consolidating progress requires institutions to become stronger. Consolidating progress requires citizenship education to become broader. Consolidating progress requires the use of digital technologies to be truly inclusive. This is even more important in the post-2023 scenario, when federal instances of participation began to return.