Participating in democratic life goes beyond registering to vote every two years in municipal and national elections. The different possibilities of action include participation in demonstrations and collaboration with municipal councils, among others.
Active participation helps to preserve and improve the regime, which has been threatened by coup attacks by
The context is also to investigate a coup plot in 2022.
According to the PF’s final report released in November, the former president () planned, acted and had control over the plan, which included killing the president (), his vice, (), and the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court). The former president denies it.
For Fernando Meireles, professor of political science at Uerj (State University of Rio de Janeiro) and president of the scientific council of the consultancy Quaest, the most traditional ways of participating in democracy were, throughout the 20th century, protests and strikes.
Currently, he highlights the role of the internet as a facilitator of collective organization. As an example of this importance, he cites a 2013 study by Harvard University researchers on the Chinese government. The country’s authorities were committed to censoring messages that could stimulate social mobilization, although they allowed criticism of the government.
The professor cites the lack of interest in politics and elections as obstacles to participation in public life. Furthermore, some obstacles are the lack of time and information about possible ways to participate.
Igor Pantoja, institutional relations coordinator at the Sustainable Cities Institute, agrees that the precariousness of most people’s daily lives hinders the possibility of citizen participation.
He argues that it is the role of governments to think of ways to make this interaction more accessible.
“It is the State’s duty to stimulate and engage the population. Otherwise, we are subject to democracy retreating or being suppressed”, he says.
Below are some ways to exercise citizenship in addition to voting.
Municipal councils
Municipal councils allow citizens to actively act in the creation of public policies.
They are a right registered in the , which provides for the planning of public services with citizen participation.
Councils in the areas of health, education and social assistance are mandatory in all municipalities, but there may be others in addition to these, says Igor Pantoja.
He recommends contacting city hall to find out how to participate and which councils operate in the city.
Collectives
It is possible to create or participate in collectives on a specific issue in the municipality. CicloCentro_SP, for example, deals with urban mobility in the capital of São Paulo.
He monitors bills and monitors city hall’s actions, in addition to promoting meetings and demonstrations on the topic.
According to communicator and member of the collective José Renato Bergo, 55, participating in this type of initiative is part of a necessary citizen movement to guarantee improvements in the city.
With a similar proposal, Bike Zona Sul, also in São Paulo, went beyond its initial goal of bringing people together for leisure and today follows public policies related to cycling activism.
The group participates in the Thematic Bicycle Chamber, which assists the CMTT (Municipal Traffic Council) in the municipality’s cycling planning.
“It’s the way we found to contribute more effectively to improving the city’s structure”, says service supervisor Aline Pellegrini, 45 years old, who is a member of the collective.
Public hearings
Another way to participate is through public hearings. Through them, citizens and civil entities debate issues of public interest.
Some hearings are virtual, which makes participation easier. In the city of São Paulo, for example, interested parties can register online to interact live via videoconference.
During the session, each speaker speaks for three minutes. Hearings can deal with different topics, such as street Carnival or police violence.
You can find out which ones are scheduled and how to sign up.
Government oversight
The population can monitor what public agents do through instruments such as transparency portals. In them, it is possible to monitor expenses and bids, for example.
There are portals aimed at the municipal, state and national spheres. There is a search box at the top of the page that can be filtered according to different themes, such as invoices and public budget.
Inspection also takes place through requests for information using the LAI (Access to Information Law). Through it, any citizen can request information produced by them from public bodies.
Citizens also have other possibilities for more active participation in democratic decisions. Some of them are collaborating with the participatory budget, in the cities where there is one, signing petitions, proposing bills and joining parties.
