Civil organizations carry out, increasingly, functions of political representation. The analysis of the conditions of legitimacy of the new representation practices is crucial for the democratic innovation and theory. Starting from the accountability, assumed as a sine qua non component of the democratic representation and as research strategy, this paper (i) examines empirically (based in surveys results) the existing representation notions among the civil organizations that assume representative functions in Mexico City and in São Paulo, and (ii) it evaluates their internal mechanisms of accountability and their control functions on public government from the point of view of the democratic theory.
civil society; representation; accountability; legitimacy
