Transparência governamental: uma proposta de criação de um índice para as câmaras municipais

Abstract

In recent years, the growing demand for government transparency reflects technological advancements and shifts in citizens' expectations of their governments. At the municipal level, city councils play fundamental roles, such as legislating, approving budgets, and overseeing the executive branch. Oversight ensures administrative integrity and promotes the transparency of government actions. To achieve this, city councils must provide information about their activities, decisions, and expenditures, strengthening accountability and enabling social oversight by the population. This dissertation aims to construct a Transparency Index for City Councils based on Brazilian legislation, best practice manuals, and academic literature. The methodology focuses on analyzing transparency portals, assessing compliance with legal requirements, information accessibility, and adherence to best practices. Information was scored and used to calculate the index. Additionally, statistical techniques were applied to relate the index to indicators of the municipalities analyzed and to identify which index variables were most significant in distinguishing the analyzed councils. The results of this research underscore the importance of Stakeholder Theory in the governmental context, revealing that city councils still exhibit significant gaps in meeting transparency and information access demands. The Transparency Index for City Councils highlighted challenges in complying with legal requirements, such as the Access to Information Law (Law No. 12,527/2011), and in addressing citizens' direct demands, thereby undermining social participation and democratic oversight. Previous studies support these findings, pointing to the insufficiency of mechanisms that promote citizen inclusion and provide detailed information on legislative activities and parliamentary expenditures, hindering oversight and social control. Another critical issue identified was the limited structure of municipal council portals, influenced by budget constraints and the lack of adequate information management systems. This weakness undermines the practical implementation of transparency, despite existing legislation and incentives. Overcoming these barriers requires a stronger commitment to administrative modernization, the strengthening of collaborative governance, and the promotion of dialogue with stakeholders, fostering more effective tools for information access and open government practices. This study contributes to theoretical and practical advancements in the field of government transparency by proposing and applying an index that systematically and comparatively evaluates the transparency of city councils in Brazil.