The paper shows results of a comparative research on municipal councils of social policy of the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. It analyses the influence of institutional framework shaping the councils of health, of social assistance, of the rights of children and teenagers, of infant education and of work and employment placed in this Region. The paper takes part of a current effort to form a public database of evidences, in order to help the academic debate on the subject. These evidences can be used to better understand the workings and the role of these councils in different social policy areas, as well as the recent transformations of the Brazilian Social Security System.
social policy; municipal councils; participation