A sociedade civil nos conselhos de assistência social em Mato Grosso e os desafios da participação nos municípios de pequeno porte I

Abstract

The most recent studies on social assistance councils have shown the limits con-tained in such experiments, as well as aspects that hinder the effectiveness of the councils as strategic spaces for the consolidation of social care as public policy. One of the issues raised, concerns the quality of the representation of civil society. The present study aimed to investigate and analyze the composition, nature, representation and participation of civil so-ciety in social care councils in small municipalities in Mato Grosso I and its implications for social control. The empirical references to the issues and ideas presented here were the creation of laws and decrees to amend the municipal councils and semistructured interviews with counselors. We estimate of the quality of civil society participation in the councils is re-lated to social participation in the public sphere and in this sense the forums to choose their representatives on the boards of assistance are important mechanisms for the qualification of civil society representation in such spaces and the effective exercise of social control. How-ever, analysis of empirical sources revealed that the lack of associative tradition, the ab-sence of autonomous civil organizations in sufficient quantity to influence managers' policy in the process of institutionalization of the advice and direction of the legislation, combined with the situational aspects broader gave civil society representation on the boards a setting that contributes little to the advancement of social welfare policy, revealing weaknesses in the participatory process and social control in areas of advice.