As the democratization of health policies develops, social control over public interests has been of help in providing health movements with prominence, not only by denouncing cases of "negligence and omission" by established services, but also by struggling to create regular, favourable conditions by which to exercise control over services and governmental management of public health policies. In the early 1980s, a remarkable experience occurred in the "Zona Leste" or eastern burrough of the city of São Paulo, consisting of the emergence of Health Councils as a means of popular representation in the control over the state. Through their analysis of these issues, the authors' intent is to proceed to new problems rather than discussing the make-up of that representation. Within the political context in the aftermath of the 1988 Constitution, as we are experiencing a new democratic moment and legislation which (in principle) supports people's participation in health policies and defends social rights, then how is the field of social control to be understood? Is it limited to health services or extended to health policy? How do laws move from elaboration to practice? The text aims to follow issues which arise as social control pushes current conditions towards change.
Social Control; Health Rights; Popular Representation; Legal Rights; No Alter