
The Limits to Citizen Power
Participatory Democracy and the Entanglements of the State
Victor Albert(Author)
Pluto Press
Published on 20. June 2016
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-7453-3612-1 (ISBN)
Description
Can a political project exist outside of the power relations from which it is trying to emerge? In the twilight of Brazil's twenty-one year military regime, a new union movement emerged in Sao Paulo's industrial region, giving life to a new political party: the Workers' Party. The electoral success enjoyed by the party enabled it to champion a whole raft of democratic reforms and Brazil is now celebrated as a laboratory for popular and participatory forms of government. However, through analysis of the trajectory of the Worker Party's democratic experiment, the true challenge of embedding democracy inside existing state structures emerges.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, Victor Albert provides a critical analysis of citizen participation in Santo Andre, in the region of Greater Sao Paulo where the Workers' Party was founded, holding a microscope to the power relations between political appointees, public officials and local community activists. Albert also reveals how different social actors think and feel about citizen participation away from formal assemblies, and how some participants engage in what is a tenuous, and at times mutually distrustful, tactical and strategic relationship with political patrons.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, Victor Albert provides a critical analysis of citizen participation in Santo Andre, in the region of Greater Sao Paulo where the Workers' Party was founded, holding a microscope to the power relations between political appointees, public officials and local community activists. Albert also reveals how different social actors think and feel about citizen participation away from formal assemblies, and how some participants engage in what is a tenuous, and at times mutually distrustful, tactical and strategic relationship with political patrons.
Reviews / Votes
'Takes readers deep inside the interworking of the one of world's most well-known participatory experiences. Albert's excellent contribution to the study of citizen participation illuminates the problems of embedding participatory democracy inside existing state structures' -- Dr. Brian Wampler, Professor of Political Science, Boise State University (USA)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
3 b&w photoraphs, 2 b&w figures
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
Weight
391 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-3612-1 (9780745336121)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2016
Pluto Press
€31.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2016
1st Edition
Pluto Press
€124.99
Available for download
Person
Victor Albert is currently Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the Centre for Metropolitan Studies at the University of Sao Paulo.
Content
List of Figures and Tables
List of Abbreviations
Series Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Democratisation, Reform and Participation in Brazil
2. Rituals and Ritualisation
3. Participatory Budgeting: Ritualisations of Petitioning and Power
4. Embedded Participatory Institutions: The Urban Development Council and the Housing Council
5. Shared Practices, Contrasting Ideologies
6. Backstage
Conclusion: Reimagining Participatory Democracy
Notes
References
Index
List of Abbreviations
Series Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Democratisation, Reform and Participation in Brazil
2. Rituals and Ritualisation
3. Participatory Budgeting: Ritualisations of Petitioning and Power
4. Embedded Participatory Institutions: The Urban Development Council and the Housing Council
5. Shared Practices, Contrasting Ideologies
6. Backstage
Conclusion: Reimagining Participatory Democracy
Notes
References
Index