Inovações democráticas na gestão pública : a experiência do Orçamento Participativo de Porto Alegre (Brasil)

Abstract

This study examines the experience of the "Participatory Budget" program promoted by the Municipal Govemment of Porto A:c1gre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, during the years 1989-95. lt focuses on the possible repercussions on Brazilian citizenship of a form of state management characterized by the direct participation of the popu/ation in the al/ocation of municipal investments. The analysis conc/udes positively that the "Participatory Budget" in Porto Alegre - through the use of objective impersonal, and universal criteria in the rufes guiding participation and resource distribution - institutes an operationa/ dynamic of administration that promotes the institutional conditions for citizenship.