Local Democratization in Brazil: Strengths and dilemmas of deliberative democracy

Celina Souza analyzes two Brazilian mechanisms designed to improve local deliberative democracy: participatory budgeting and community councils. She addresses two questions: how these experiences are being implemented and how sustainably. She argues that despite the uneven capability of local governments to empower ordinary citizens, some progress has been made towards local deliberative democracy, although the sustainability of these experiences is not yet clear. Development (2007) 50, 90–95. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100338