Participação, instituições políticas e Internet: um exame dos canais participativos nos portais da Câmara e da Presidência do Brasil

Abstract

This article investigates how two Brazilian political institutions - The Presidency and The House of Representatives - use the Internet to offer citizens opportunities of political participation. After reviewing part of the relevant literature concerning Internet and Democracy, the paper identifies and describes all the participatory mechanisms available at these websites, proposing further reflections on the political effects which may arise once these channels are employed. Comparing the House of Representatives and the Presidency websites, it is possible to affirm that the former one presents a greater variety of channels able to address participatory politics. The interactive patterns established between citizens and representatives are thus quite different in this case. The article also discusses questions such as representatives’ unwillingness to offer participatory tools, once these mechanisms are costly to implement and may imply a lost of political power. In the end, one reinforces the necessity of thinking on the digital media taking into account the cultural and political contexts of every democratic society.