Participatory Democracy in Brazil: Foundations, Developments, and Limits
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Participatory Democracy in Brazil: Foundations, Developments, and Limits by José Ricardo Tranjan A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Global Governance Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2012 © José Ricardo Tranjan 2012 I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract A lack of historical perspective sustained the widespread view that participatory initiatives in Brazil represented a marked rupture from traditional forms of political engagement to radically new democratic practices. This view overlooks both incremental steps towards broader political participation taking place throughout the 20th century and setbacks restricting participation in the 1980s. This dissertation offers a historical account of the emergence of participatory democracy in Brazil that challenges this dominant view and calls attention to the importance of structural factors and national-level political-institutional contexts. Three case studies of municipal administrations in the late-1970s and early-1980s shine light on the impact of structural factors in the emergence, design, and outcome of participatory initiatives, and the contrast of these precursory experiences with the internationally known 1990s participatory models shows how participatory ideals and practices responded to the changing institutional context of the 1980s. This dissertation puts forward three central arguments. First, research should not treat citizen participation as a normative imperative but instead examine how it emerges through social and political struggles fueled by structural inequalities. Second, it is unfounded to assume that citizen participation will lead to profound transformations of national-level institutions, but it is equally erroneous to suppose that citizen participation is always intended to strengthen representative institutions; the long-term impact of direct citizen participation is an empirical rather than analytical or normative question. Third, a key challenge of participatory democracy today is to free itself from the inflated expectations imposed on it by its own enthusiastic supporters. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I must thank the members of my doctoral dissertation supervisory committee. Frederick Bird provided unremitting support for this project since I began to conceptualize it. In the last years he has spent countless hours reading, commenting on, and discussing the different stages and sections of this dissertation. Notably, he has encouraged me to follow my intuition and pursue a qualitative historical research approach in a time when political science graduate students are strongly pressured to go the opposition direction. In coordinating the supervisory committee, Professor Fred’s sole concerns have always been my intellectual development and the quality of my work, and for that too I thank him. Kathryn Hochstetler has done much more than she signed up for. A new arrival at the university she joined the committee without knowing my work. Her involvement in the project increased with time and eventually she became indispensable. In the writing phase, Professor Kathy served as a de facto co-supervisor; she offered feedback to various versions of the same chapters and helped me situate my arguments in the literature. She has also showed interest in and concern for my professional development, which is much appreciated by this introverted junior scholar. Muito obrigado. Rhoda Howard-Hassmann forged an academic out of an activist. The courses I took with her in the first year of the program were fundamental to my formation as a scholar. She taught me how to organize my thoughts and writing and distinguish between rhetoric and reason. It was a privilege to have her join the committee and continue to provide me with guidance although my project ultimately fell out of her research area. Also at the University of Waterloo, Eric Helleiner has been for many years a mentor and a model. By example, he has taught me that academic research is not a zero-sum game, and that we are all eternal students, who have much to learn from and teach to each other. Andrew iv Thompson is one of the most valuable assets of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. His incessant willingness to help students navigate the hordes of graduate studies allows us to focus more attention to our projects. Though spread across the globe, my cohort has been incredible. Our sincere, supporting, and stimulating exchanges made the doctoral experience more agreeable. My warmest wishes to Kim, Ariane, Ola, Jennifer, and Vic. I was also lucky to meet Jayna, who has already become a lifetime friend: thank you for being there and making it fun! To André and Alberto, um abraço. Finally, I am grateful to have been part of Park Street Community and all it represented. During my field research in Brazil, I was hosted by the Núcleo de Pesquisas de Políticas Publicas of the University of São Paulo, and my exchanges with the center’s researchers made it a fruitful experience. I would like to thank José Álvaro Moisés for providing me this opportunity and offering valuable comments on my research project. Charmain Levy and Paulo J. Krischke also took the time to read drafts of parts of this project and provided stimulating comments. I am also greatly indebted to my interviewees in Lages, Boa Esperança, and Diadema. I hope to have accurately depicted your stories. The Centro de Documentação e Pesquisa Vergueiro, headed by the militant Luiza, has had a vital role in field research. The Centro de Memória de Diadema and the archive of the Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Municipal also provided me with useful material. Back in Canada, the John P. Robarts Library offered me a working space next to the stacks on Brazilian history that made that my writing year much more productive. My doctoral studies and research have been funded by University of Waterloo’s Internal Doctoral Award (2008-2010), the Balsillie School of International Affairs’ Balsillie Fellowship (2008-2010), and principally the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Vanier Graduate Scholarship (2010-2012). I would like to thank these institutions, and Canadian v taxpayers, for the financial support that made my project possible. It is also worth mentioning that Trent University was the first to offer me the opportunity to study in a Canadian institution. My partner Yamie Tremblay came into my life in what is considered the most dreadful period of a doctoral program: the weeks preceding the comprehensive exams. She made my life more joyful then, and throughout the rest of the program, and that required putting her career off for a year and moving to the inhospitable city of São Paulo. Mon amour, je ne peux pas exprimer ma gratitude avec des mots. vi To my siblings, Kika, Ana, and Beto, with love and appreciation. vii Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... X LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................. XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................ XII INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 1 PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL .............................................................................................................................. 8 Participatory Budgeting .................................................................................................................................................... 9 Health Councils ................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Normative Debates ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 THE PRESENT STUDY ............................................................................................................................................................ 29 RESEARCH AND METHOD ...................................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 1: THE BRAZILIAN (UN)REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM ......................................................... 41 THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................................... 41 THE FIRST REPUBLIC: A LIMITED ACCESS ORDER .......................................................................................................... 48 FROM VARGAS TO GOULART: TOWARDS AN OPEN ACCESS ORDER ............................................................................. 52 THE MILITARY REGIME: STALLING DEMOCRATIZATION ................................................................................................ 63 CONCLUSION