Mapping of the institutionalization of councils for managing public policies in Brazilian towns

Abstract

Currently, Brazil has more than 40,000 councils for managing public policies spread throughout towns. However, how are structured these spaces that constitute a broad participatory network for developing and implementing public policies? Having as a basis a classificatory model developed through theoretical approaches related to social participation, deliberative democracy, and legislative analysis, this exploratory paper identifies the main institutional characteristics concerning mandatory conformation, nature of the representation, composition, and decision-making capacity; and possible regional patterns in the implementation of the councils network. As a result, we identified that most councils do not have mandatory conformation. Nevertheless, there is a direct relationship between mandatory conformation and the implementation degree of municipal public policies. We also identified unique regional institutional conformation patterns: councils in the Northeast region are proportionately more balanced and deliberative than those in the South and Southeast regions. Finally, the cross-sectional data analysis points out a tendency for change in the institutional model of Brazilian councils.