The article examines the question of social participation in public health policies from 1988 onwards. It seeks to problematize the State-society relation through an examination of the creation of management councils with decision-making powers in Brazil's National Health Service (SUS). The text sets out from the premise that achieving more democratic healthcare is not limited to expanding health services and coverage: such a process also involves building awareness of health as a public asset, rather than conceiving health simply as a marketable item or an individual consumer commodity. The text explores the nature of social participation in healthcare, the public and private spheres of social life involved in this dynamic, and the extent to which these social demands are representative given the diversity of the social actors and identities involved.
Social participation; Health management; National Health Board