Participatory Budget and (de)democratization of public management in Porto Alegre

The objective is to analyze the role of the Participatory budget (OP) of Porto Alegre (POA) in the democratization and de-democratization of decisions on municipal public affairs, as well as in the reproduction of forms of power relations. Based on the use of semi-structured interviews and reflective analysis of documents and prioritizing as an analytical focus some characteristics, bases and resulting from the relations between civil society and city hall in the frameworks of this OP, the study highlights the complex and contradictory character of the mentioned participatory tool. By interpreting the way in which the aforementioned instrument facilitates democratizing and de-democratizing decisions on public policies, benefiting, even, the legitimation of the latter process, the results presented deepen in determining readings on said experience in POA and suggest other perspectives that could complement some relative understandings to its potentialities and limitations associated with democratization.