Participação popular junto ao poder legislativo do município de Juiz de Fora (MG): a necessidade de reinvenção de um sistema.

Abstract

This dissertation aims to identify the factors associated with the predisposition to popular participation in the municipal legislature of Juiz de Fora. The City Council of Juiz de Fora, legislative power of the city located in the Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais, presents difficulties in the social mobilization of its representatives and, consequently, in the maintenance of its programs of popular participation. The first phase of the research, focused on understanding the structure of the legislative house and the existing tools, allowed the identification of the critical elements: low capacity for mobilization, difficulty of access to the instruments of participation by the population, inadequate or decontextualized structuring of the instruments and inability to produce and store data usable in the elaboration of public policies. In order to fulfill the objective of the dissertation, a theoretical review and an empirical study were performed. Although democracy is a historical construction structured by multiple and specific parameters of each society, the possibility of popular participation is fundamental to its concept, legitimizing governments, public policies and the State itself. The 21st century citizen's way of life requires and allows for new participatory tools that effect and stimulate their interest and, consequently, their participation, with the Electronic Government being an experiment under construction to be considered. Through the analysis of the data, three factors associated with the construct predisposition to popular participation with the municipal legislature of Juiz de Fora (MG) were obtained: Political Engagement, Satisfaction with the Municipality of Juiz de Fora and Trust in the System. By the analysis of conglomerates, the respondents were divided into 2 groups (clusters) equally (un) satisfied with the City Council of Juiz de Fora, but divergent in terms of political engagement and confidence in the system. Based on the theoretical framework and the results of the survey, an Action Plan is presented with proposals for improvements through the implementation of egovernment tools, that is, through the use of information and communication technology (ICTs).