Participation and public policy: Effectiveness of social assistance councils in the management of politics

Abstract

Introduction: This article intend to contribute to debate on the effectiveness of Participatory Institutions, analyzing the effects of social assistance councils on the management of sectoral policy in Brazilian municipalities. Methods: Methodologically, the analysis establishes a statistical correlation between the effectiveness of the participation and the performance of the policy management, based on the construction of two indexes, the Participation Effectiveness Index (IEP) and the Municipal Management Index (IGM), using data from Census SUAS 2012. The first index aggregates indicators of the quality of participation expressed in the degree of institutionalization, deliberation and representation. The second group includes management performance variables in sectoral policy, measured in technical and administrative capacities present in municipalities. Results: The contribution of the article is to assess the effects of social assistance councils on sector policy, as well as to discuss under what conditions participation matters in the municipalities. It highlights two of them, which constrains the results of participation in policy management: regional location and population size. Discussion: It argues that the effectiveness of the participation explains a greater part of the variation in the performance of the management in the municipalities of smaller population size, which sends to the configuration of the public policy.