Conselho estadual de política ambiental: análise do seu funcionamento e das suas relações com o contexto das políticas ambientais do estado de Minas Gerais

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, Natália Real
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/1955
• topic: Conselho; Política ambiental; Democracia participativa; State board; Environmental policy; Participative democracy; CNPQ::CIENCIAS SOCIAIS APLICADAS::ADMINISTRACAO::ADMINISTRACAO PUBLICA

In modern society, government role complexity and population growth have influenced changes in decision-making, restricting political functions to a few citizens who become the sole representatives of the interests of all the citizens. Although most authors consider elections to be essential tools for the consolidation of a democratic government, they also point to the insufficient character of the voting process in view of events aiming at maintaining the control of rulers over the people. In this sense, a political theory emerges participative democracy which supports the idea that the institutions constituted by collective will should be responsible for mediating the relations between the individual and the collective interests, aiming at implementation of public interest formation by governmental administration. Within this context, recent experiences have stimulated the development and incorporation of new arrangements which increase the number of political actors and arenas. In Brazil, civil society participation in the political arenas is a relatively recent reality, which became more visible through the movement against the dictatorial government and in favor of political democratization during the 1980s, when several mechanisms were institutionalized, especially the public policy councils. Such councils were created as spaces for political participation, decision-making and social control, allowing the representation of various interests to define the public agenda. However, various studies on the participative experiences of these councils have not only raised new possibilities but have also pointed to difficulties in the establishment of effectively participative processes, signaling a more cautious attitude regarding the promises and expectations suggested by the introduction of civil society participation in these spaces. In this sense, this work aims to analyze this new pattern of relation between the Government and Society by developing a descriptive-qualitative case study, focused on the Environmental Policy Council of Minas Gerais.