A evolução do orçamento participativo em São José dos Campos

Abstract

Considering the increasing participation, in recent years, of people from the community of Sao Jose dos Campos in public and virtual manifestations, as a sign of their dissatisfaction with the national and municipal political situation, this research aimed to identify if such participation is also increasing in the collaborative planning programs made available by the Public Administration. The present work used as object of study the so-called Participative Budget Planning, which was democratic tool applied in Sao Jose dos Campos - SP by two distinct Municipal Government leading parties, in two subsequent terms of office, in the years of 2013 and 2017. The research was carried out by means of documentary and bibliographical investigation, as well as by interviews with the involved players. The implementation of this mechanism of democratic and participatory management promoted a significant participation in the 2013 edition. The 2017 edition, however, did not manage to obtain comparable results in terms of population participation. Such results are explained by the political influences, by the reduction in the number of public hearings and by the degree of importance given by the government to the program. In the last edition, we highlighted the use of online submission of proposals, a first-time initiative in the city. The structure adopted by each Party in charge during their term of office influenced the participation of the population. Thus, it is inferred that popular participation in the Participative Budget Planning has not been increasing as expected, requiring more incentive to participatory democracy, starting with school children, adolescents and young people, in order to influence the future adult citizens. Moreover, it has been observed that one party effectively promoted more the participatory democracy, while the other simply fulfilled legal predictions. Finally, this research contributed to identify the degree of popular participation, as well as its causes, in the Participative Budget Planning program over the years and opens the way to new studies on the introduction of digital participative budgeting in Sao Jose dos Campos - SP.