Participatory Democracy in Brazil

Rezensionen / Stimmen

"J. Ricardo Tranjan argues for the need to contextualize participatory ideals and practices, and maintains that the much-celebrated cases of the 1990s and 2000s are rooted in less-known cases of the 1970s and 1980s (are, in fact, 'moderations' of those). The formula Tranjan uses for analyzing this context-economic structure and macro-institutional setting-is well-described. The book can be used in courses focusing on 'governance' practices in the developing world or on Brazilian contemporary politics/history." -William Nylen, Stetson University

"In Participatory Democracy in Brazil: Socioeconomic and Political Origins, J. Ricardo Tranjan makes an important contribution to broader theoretical debates on political development. Rather than focusing on the now famous participatory budgeting program in Porto Alegre, he extends his analysis to better situate the emphasis on participatory democracy in a larger historical context. His corrective history will be of interest to scholars of participatory democracy, contemporary Brazilian social and political history, and democratic studies." -Brian Wampler, Boise State University

"This pathbreaking study of participatory democracy in Brazil fundamentally challenges the conventional wisdom in a number of ways. Rather than assume that Brazil's experiments in participatory democracy are urban phenomena that started in the late 1980s as a consequence of its democratic transition, J. Ricardo Tranjan persuasively demonstrates how participatory democracy's roots date back to rural and urban experiments in participation under military rule. The result is a nuanced understanding of how changes in socioeconomic context and national politics and institutions not only condition local political participation in important ways, but affect the very meaning of political participation. It is a must read for anyone interested in the politics of participation in Latin America." -Philip Oxhorn, McGill University