O processo educativo no orçamento participativo: aprendizados dos atores da sociedade civil e do estado

Abstract

Evaluating the various practices and channels of community participation in the elaboration and implementation of public policies existing nowadays in Brazil, especially at the municipal level, it can be seen that the experiences of the so called Participatory Budget are particularly relevant, considering the fact that the deliberation of the community on the priorities of the budget allows a reversal of these priorities, the exercise of an active citizenship, and the broadening of democracy. It thereby contributes to a redefinition of the relation between the State and Civil Society. The local experiences with democratization of public policies have shown that it is not sufficient to create mechanism and channels of participation. In addition, it is necessary to create the conditions to guarantee that this participation really occurs, building capacity for the diverge actors (from Civil Society and the State) for the exercise of a new practice of public policy making, substantially democratic. In order for this to happen, the mediating role of education is an indispensable element for the creation of a new learning process among the actors from Civil Society and the Government that participate in this process. The object of this Research was the educational process that occurs within the practice of the Participatory Budget. A description and an analysis of both the learning process of the actors from Civil Society and the Government, as well as the methodology and pedagogical instruments used throughout the process, were elaborated. On the basis of a revision of the literature on the practices of Participatory Budgeting in Brazil, we elaborated a case study of the experiences with the Participatory Budget in Santo André (located in the Greater ABC Region. within the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo) during two administrations of Mayor Celso Daniel of the Workers Party (more specifically being 1989-1992 and the period 1997- 1999 of the present administration). Using existing reference material, implementing surveys and interviews with the actors who were participating in the process (from Civil Society and the Government) it was possible to evaluate the process in terms of its achievements, its existing limitations and the challenges faced considering the requirement of continuity. The analysis of the Case Study of the Participatory Budget in Santo André has shown that an educational process, which has stimulated important learning effects to the actors from the Civil Society and Government who were involved in the process, characterizes the experience throughout its development. Therefore, the participants in this process identify the Participatory Process as a "School for Citizenship" -