Authors:
Adrian Gurza Lavalle (USP)
Ernesto Isunza Vera (CIESAS)
Abstract: The article examines four general arguments that are widely circulated and influential and that provide typical answers to the question What are citizens expected to control in a democracy? The answers depend on how the relationship between democracy, representation, participation and control is understood. These elements find crystallized formulation in the four arguments that constitute a continuum of possibilities: control as the verdict of the people, control as the substantive connection between representatives and represented, control as effective popular sovereignty, and control as the realization of inclusive decision-making processes. The development of the last argument has been stimulated by processes of democratic innovation in relation to which Latin America, and especially Brazil, have been a reference in the international debate. We argue the importance of control over state functions (policies and not only politics) and develop a response focused on participation as social control, examining the limits, assumptions and advantages of the general arguments.
Source: Revista do Serviço Público - RSP, v. 75, n. a, 10-34 p.
Link: https://repositorio.enap.gov.br/handle/1/7996
