A participação social nos conselhos municipais no Ceará: oferta do estado e conquista da sociedade civil

Abstract

This article looks at the experience of participation in bodies known as "public spaces" that have emerged from governmental initiatives at the state and municipal level. The basis for the analysis is the concept of participation in the sense of "proposal coming from the state" ar "conquest achieved by civil societv". Municipal councils in the town of Baturité (in the state of Ceará) are analysed on the basis of data collected in 1997 and are viewed as both: 1)instruments of legitimisation for government proposals aimed at economic and political modernisation and 2) public spaces in which the process of learning to participate and growing awareness of citizens rights may encounter fertile terrain to develop due to greater transparency in governmental decision making.