Problems and Purpose
The Participatory Budget (PP) of Fortaleza began in 2005. Fortaleza is a city in the State of Ceará in Brazil. The incumbent prefect at that time Luizianne Lins of the Workers' Party (PT) implemented the program.
The Participatory Budgeting Process has the function of working in favor of the integration of the different instances of action or, to be more precise, having an active voice on issues that are related to the Executive Power. In some moments, this level reaches the point of the creation and control of the debated measures.
The main reasons for the creation of the initiative were the prefecture's attempt to listen to the greatest number of its population so that, in this way, resources reach all sectors of society more equitably.
The prefecture at that time had the initiative to also listen to minorities (the elderly, homosexuals, children, among others) in private forums, since many of these people do not feel comfortable speaking about their points of view in the Assemblies.
The main objective of the PP is to think about the transversality of popular participation in order to facilitate the process that supports the Secretariats, building a policy for the right to participation.
History
The PP of Fortaleza was created in 2005 in the city of Fortaleza, capital of the State of Ceará. The city was divided into 14 areas. At one stage, the Social Segments were created with the aim of listening to minorities. The Participatory Process on that occasion had a large influx of population where 8,020 people attended who were part of the Participatory Budget in Fortaleza (1,456 went to the Preparatory Assembly and 6,384 went to the Deliberative Assembly and 180 children participated in the Specific Assemblies). The end result was the approval of a total of 322 projects out of a total of 637 submitted. The areas that were benefited with projects were health, work, income, education, sports and entertainment, environment, social assistance; security, transportation, culture and human rights.
Originating Entities and Funding
The Participatory Budget of Fortaleza is an initiative in charge of the Prefecture of the City of Fortaleza and civil society. The final budget had a value for projects of R $ 148,626,906.00 in 2005, which is equivalent to 7.4% of the municipal budget. As it is a multi-year plan, the process was repeated in subsequent years, from 2006 to 2009, with satisfactory results for the accounts and public infrastructure.
Participant Selection
Participation is free and open to all people from all neighborhoods of Fortaleza from the age of 13.
Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction
Fortaleza is divided into 14 areas, in addition to its subdivisions. The work begins with the popular plenaries, held in two rounds. The first, which is called the Preparatory Assembly, communicates the previous results and presents for argumentation and elaboration the themes of that year (culture; human rights; dates; premises; security; environment; health and work, among others) and presents the status city financial and investment possibilities. In the second round, called the Deliberative Assembly, the citizens make their proposals and choose the priorities about public policy that are of particular interest to the subdivisions. They also elect the delegates that make up the Regional Forum of Delegates, who are responsible for supervising the participatory budget process and who subsequently elect the Participatory Budget Counselors, who are responsible, together with the municipal agents, for the available works.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
With the implementation of the Participatory Budget focused on the distribution of the budget, the Prefecture of Fortaleza has to receive merits for this, since it is building a communication channel with the population. The Participatory Budget is already a tool that acts as a support to the public machine and that, each time, becomes accessible to the States in its most diverse instances. Brazilian society is developing the idea of participation and moving towards a Pragmatic Democracy, more concrete from the participatory perspective of the population.
Secondary Sources
"Comissão de participação popular". Fortaleza.fortaleza.ce.gov.br/2008 [DEAD LINK]
[UPDATE: see here for similar web content]
External Links
"Vice vai à sessão, more é o secretario quem fala". Diario do Nordeste / 03.02.2009