A relação entre Estado e sociedade civil: as experiências dos conselhos municipais de assistência social de Natal e Parnamirim (2015-2017)

Abstract

The Public Policy of Social Assistance established by the Federal Constitution of 1988 is a duty of the State and the right of the citizen and is carried out through a decentralized and participatory system, articulating the State and civil society in the decision-making process of management and in the inspection of actions and public resources. The managing councils institutionally assume the prerogative to materialize social participation for the democratization of public policies, and its existence is a legal condition for the transfer of federal resources in the scope of Social Assistance. The literature shows that these institutions are consolidated for this process, however, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of the functioning of the councils and their relationship with the management bodies to analyze the quality of social participation and its influence in the decision-making process and the exercise of Social control. The objective of this work is to analyze the dynamics of the municipal councils of Natal and Parnamirim (RN), based on the assumptions of theories of participatory and deliberative democracy, apprehending the analytical categories of participation, political representation, deliberative effectiveness and Accountability. Based on documentary research (council creation laws, internal regulations, minutes, resolutions and management reports), as well as participation in meetings of the collegiate and interviews with directors and managers, an attempt was made to analyze how sharing of power takes place in these institutions and how they influence the respective municipal administrations. The results demonstrate that the dynamics of functioning of the councils is related to the opening of management to social participation and to the role of directors in promoting debates, presenting demands and exercising social control over the actions and rendering of accounts of managers. In this sense, it is possible to affirm that participatory institutions act qualitatively for the democratization of public policies, even though the unequal correlation of forces between State and civil society is still present in the decision-making process in some way in the analyzed cases.