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8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
1/16
L W ND
GLO LIZ TION
FROM
LOW
Towards a osmopolitan egality
dited
oaventura de ousa
antos
University of Coimbra and University of Wisconsin Madison
nd
esar
Rodriguez Garavito
University of the ndes and University of Wisconsin Madison
UC M RIDGE
;
UN V RS TY PR SS
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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CHAPTER13
TWO DEMOCRACIES T\ \ O LEGALITIES
PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
IN
PORTO
ALEGRE BRAZIL
[ oaventura
l
Sousa Santos
Today, two forms of globalization
confront cach
olhc ,-:
th e
hegemonic
neolibcral globalization driven
by th e
interests of glob:: 1 capitalism, and
the counter-hegemonic globalizatioll, or globalizaLion from below,
driven hy th e transn
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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SI\NTOS
p ~ l r t i c i j l 8 t i 0 l 1
in lllul1icipal government.
This
political OPI,ollunity
was
(
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
5/16
:: 1\ I\i105
sl,ecial
concern [o r the
definitiun of l,ricmtles fur the distribution
of
inve,tmcllt resources.
PB
and its ins\-itutio lal framework have no
fllrtl1
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
6/16
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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S \NTOS
TIlt i n s t i t l ~ i o n a l organs of
community
partlcil ation are then con
s t l t u t , ~ c 1 ;
the
Fora of Delegates (sixteen regional
and
six thematic
delegates)
and
the COP.
The Fora
of Delcg3tes are collegiate organs
with consulting, controlling, ancl-tnobilizing functiom. The Fora meet
unce
d
month
and
the two major tasb of the d e l e g t e ~
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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SAN-lOS
i n t he
lnvestment
Pbn of
a global
expenditure
i tem for street
l aving
Cl
1
rrespondin.[(
1:0
20km
of
streets to be paved. The dismbution
of
this
amount
by
the different
regions was
the
result
of
rhe
app\icltion
of the
criteria, their weight, and the
grade
of the region in each
crilerion.
The
grJc\e received by
each
r eg ion in each criterion
is
l11u1:ip\ ied by
the
general criterion s
weight.
Th e sum
of the
partial
~ l o i m
(gr
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
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S N T O ~
cornplexiry. The increase ami diversity of p \ r t i c i p ~ t i o n together with
the incre'lsing inrensity and
differentiation of
demands, h,ls also con
rributcd decisively to rn::llcing c
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
10/16
SANTOS
concerning a work, i ts posit ion was
eXl laiw:d
to d,e cllllllnunity
by
its
tcchniGll staff ,lnd the comlllunity
cndcdllp
:lgreeing,
The cUllsenslis-buiklillg process is cl1lnplex because
the
problems
under diSCUSSion
as
well as the decisions taken often have, beSides the
political climellsicn, a stron,g technical dimension. Mon>Jver, techni
cal criteria constitute one of the limits of pnrticip,ltlon 11l1d are rhem
se Ives sLlIll.etimcs
the object
of
debate
and cOllnict,
The
internal rules of
PI) include the technical criteria established by the v,lrif US depart
ments of
the
cxecutive. Some of the technicCil criteria currently in force
rire: all community claims and
demands
round technically nlll1vi:lble by
the city s ;)clministratioll are cancelled; preference is givcll
to
works-in
progress; ::mcl
the
pluvial
network
will no t be inst llled in streets
without
p;wemellts becriuse
the
network, beinp; open to allowfor
he
collection
of
rain
wmer, might be blocked by sand and rubbish,
In such a sys tem of co-govern\uenl:, the executive docs have ZI very
~ c t i v e role, if
only
because it conLru]s technical
k n o w l ( ~ d ~ e Cine
;llso
because it either gl ncmtes
the
relevant: information
or
has privileged
Llccess to
it. Its presence
in
PI)
is
quite strong by
rCZlson
of its coordinat
ing functions
both
in
the
COP
through iLs
IWO
represent8tives, even
though
they
do
no t have
the
r ight to vote, Clml in the re,;innal assem
blics through the CRC delegate in the region. Furthermore, the execu
tive itseJ.f forwards
autonomous
investrnent
pro[ osZlls
to dlC COP, the
so-called institutiond\ demands, which have their origin in executive
departments and which usually concern the
m : l i n t e n a n c ~
PI improve
ment of urban. infwstructures.
In additioll t l technical limits, there are financial limits, which are no t
always duly considered by the ;Jssclllblies, Suf(ice it to mention that, Cur
Cinallcial rcasons, ollly 30 percent of the demands originally fmmulatecl
loy the cOlnmunity CLln be taken care of. SometlLnes, the
W,1\
the clelllmlds
ZI
n.d
pr ioritics are formul::ltecl docs
not
take
inw
;lCCOUllt
cerlai
technical
conditions that: increase
the
cost beyond
what
til( COlUlllunitles them
selves consider reasonable. For example, the f ~ c t tha.t street raving lllllSt
inc]lI,k street lighting incre:lses its cost by a large :-lmount.l ,;uwadays, the
p e r c e n t a ~ c
1)1 investments included in the budget v,ll ies
ben\
een
,lllci
20 I CrCl llt, which is high by Brazilian sLmd,lIds,
The credihility ofthe political
conrract
that constitutes pI resides in
w ellL ct lvem:ss eli rhe decisions and in the llccount;lbih: y
hOlh
or the
cxcclltiv( and of [-he representatives
If
the civi Isoc iety ill rh,:COl (see
I\bers
199[-;,
2(00). The
fCict that ollly
30
pel cent of tlle
,-leJn;1Ilds
may
he cOllsidercd is less illll)ortant
tkm
the el(ecrive S ~ l i s { l l i u n
of
the
126
PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN
BRAZIL
demands sel ec ted for i nc lu si on in the Investment Plan. Several
mechanisms guarantee effectiveness and account:ability. First, the poli
tical will of the
executive
must be mentioned. The basic
principle
of
the
municipal
government is to fulfi ll as rigorously
as
possible the
Investment Plan and to justify what is left unfulfilled.
Secondly,
there
are
committees
- c reated withinthe Fora of Delegates- whose function
is
to
supervise
the
works.
In the
case
of
delays
or alterations, the
delegates have direct access to the Mayor s Off ice to ask for explana
tions. Thirdly, the
velY
structures of PB strongly
encourage
account
ability. The two institutions of regular
functioning
- the COP and the
Forum
of
Delegat es - are bound to the grassroots institutions:
the
Region::tl Assemblies
and the
Thematic Plenaries.
The latter
two
organs, because
they
are open to the individual and collective
partici
pat ion of a ll c it izens , exerc ise a double
popular
comrol,
upon
the
performance
of
the executive a nd upon community representation
itself.
practice, the exercise of control is sometimes problematic, as
witness the debates about t he quality of r ep re sent at ion and about
transparency
and
accountability.
As I have indicated , the close linkage of participation to resource
distribution and to the effectiveness of decisions is on e o f the
core
features
ofPB.
This alone explains why, for five
months,
PB
councilors
meet at least once a week, often twice
or
thrice a week, with no
remuneration,
even
travel expenses.
This
linking of
participation to
distribution
is, no
doubt,
one
of
the
virtues of PB,
but perhaps
also a
limitation. According to Tarso Genro , i t is common f or a r eg ion or
micro-region to stop participating in the
meetings
and assemblies :Jfter
their demands have been met.
They
usually begin participating again,
once they realize
that
in the year
in
which they d id
no t
participate
there was no investment made in their region or micro-region.
The
close binding articlllation of participation, distribution, and the
effectiveness of decisions may eventually
provoke
some addition::d
tension in the a lready tense f ie ld of co-govemment that
constitutes
the political contract
between
the executive
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
11/16
~ ; \ N T O :
btlth the
elected
mayor ;md the popular l11lWCmenr becomes ;11l111tU:11ly
rebtive
autonomy.
Th e
question
is: whose
autonomy is
more relati-
vized by entering th e contr:lct? PH is ;m initiative the PT populm
adlllinistrHtil1n of 1 \)rto Alegre, and its
bC1slc
instinttiom:l outline has
been designed over th e years by
the
execlltive.
t
is p ar t o f a political
l rogrClI1l or
redistribution
of public resources and det1locrtltiwtion of
dI e
st:1te.
This
politiC:11 program
is
also
\:bc
m e e t i n ~
grmmd
oJ
a
demand
with
a similar pl1liticall)rientation
advanced
hy
th e
pllpU
h r movement
,md sust;lined over the years by
much
struggle. Th e issue is, then how
this convergence of politic1l will has b o ~ c n carried out, on \ vh.ose terms
an d timetables,
an d
wi th wh at outcomes.
Without ;111)
doubt popular participation in 1 13 is
VCi Y
active. Is
it:
also
autollumous?
What
docs
i t m ea n t o
be
,1uton0l110us? Auto
i
10rny cmnot
be conceived
ilS
popular s p o n t n ~ i t y as
native c:1jx\citv to organize
poor people In degraded communities without
th e
SU[lport or influence of
external,
org::ll1ized
political forces. Autonomy rather must be conceived
IS the popular capacity to channel external support :lnc\ put it
at
th e
service
of
objectives, demands,
an d
agendas generatecl
i n t he
commu-
l l i t i e ~ . in the Bra7.i\ian
context autonomy is
measured
by
the capacity to
clevelup organizational strel1gth
an d
eerectiveness
by
m::meuvering
among competmg external political influences, using such competition
to impose
dem::ll1ds
that however important fnr the communltYI (10
no t
represent;) [)riorily
for
any of the political rorces in cornpe:itlon.
Since 1 13 is
no t a popubr moven ent
b ut a n
institution;}l con:stella-
tion designed to
operate
as a sustained, regularly functioning meeting
pbce ror th e popular movement
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
12/16
~ ; m o s
increClsingly
been suhmitted
to a proCound
k ~ l r n i n g
process
concerning
cOllll\1unication ,1l1d argumentation with l,ly pOI,ulations. Thell ' tech
L1icl1 reco111ll1enchtions must be
conveyed
in clccessihle language to
people who
llo llot
master
technical know leclge;
their
reasonability
musr be c1eI110nstnltec1 in a persuasive w:'y, rrt ther thr111 1ll1posed in an
auLhnnl:etri;:1I1
fclshion;
no
altern:1tive hypothesIs
or solut ion
may
be
CxclLLlled wIthout :;howing Its 1I1wi;1hility. Wlwl'C emlil;1
a
Lechllobur-
~ d l l c r , 1 \ i c culLure prcv;,ilecl, gradually : teclmoclemocratlc culture has
Cll1C l 1ecl.
This tr,msfonnation
has 110t
been easy. AccOflling t u Tarso Genro,
during the l,eriocl
hetween
1992 1l1d 1996, there W: 5 nlllrc progress in
c11anging the bnguC1ge and discourse of the engineers when addressing
the peopl e i n the communit ies than in changing their dismissive
atutucles V i S - ~ l - v i s what people had to S8Y. In
orher
w o r d ~
the
cap:1city
to make him
or herself
understood
has
il
f
1
wved
more
thell1 the
capa-
cil:y to listen. When Raul Pont initiated his
mandate
(19 -2000), he
became
pmticubrly
sensitive
to th e
bct : t ha t t he
structure :lnd process
of 1 13 were very
little
known :1L1longthe m I l l 1 l c i ~ , a l workel's and st
8/10/2019 Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Two Democracies, Two Legalities Pp. 310-338
13/16
S i \ h T J ~
\addition
to
a form of dual power, lhis
situatiun
also comprises a
ronn
of con(runwtionallegc1l pluralityat the city level: (In ,me side, the
offici;l legality, o n t he ot her , t he u n o f I c i a l q ~ a H t y , which,
to
lHelke
thinglcde.1 Democrariem
c
l\edcI l\ibUcil5: TCJldcnci(is it [\ClliWCU;c llLl eWl ] ,ClI,d. S{t/wldor. PhD
Dissen;lrilm, UI\iversidade Feder;ll d;l
13;,hin.
S:\llII'S,
BO;wCIHur,\
de Sousa. 1998. 'T;lI'ticip;llory BlIllgC'ing ill l\nto Alegre:
TllW;\rd
a
Red
iotributive
Dcmocr;ley. Plilities
d
SDcice\'
26:461-510.
2.002. Towanl
Ncw Legal
ComliHIll .scme. L\lndon: elll'lt'rworlhs.
(ELL).,
{' nilel)111
ing.
Democrati,ing Delilucrete)': 13c)'nllclllteUhernl
DemDcmtic
CUllIn\. LIll1l1ull:
Versn.
VilLts-Bn:is, I\Cn:1r:1 (Ed.). 1999. lJLlIIOl\(J c/ IS EX/leri[ncirl.1 de OT\ClI lWlto
r u.rlici/lClt;I o
nos GIJI,eTllOS Lumi,. S li l) [ ) ;l l l lu:
[nslit:lIl{)
PI',lis.
HS