ABSTRACT
Urban policy in Curitiba includes the City Council of Curitiba (Concitiba) as a permanent participatory body. As Graham Smith (2009) indicates, the institutional design of such an instance is capable of influencing its production of democratic goods, in which inclusion is important, and may be assessed through two markers: presence and voice. This paper approaches institutional design of Concitiba and verifies the promotion of inclusion through presence and voice, over its first two terms (2008 to 2012). With regard to presence, two groups demonstrated regimental and effective predominance: the public sector and the productive sector. In terms of voice, there was warranted space for the represented groups to manifest their (mostly conflicting) arguments. Concerns regarding the internal organization of the council were a big issue during its beginnings, but manifestations of divergent positions and conflicting projects in urban policy issues per se eventually outgrew them. JEL Codes: O21; R58; Z18.
Keywords:
Urban Policy; Institutions of Participative Democracy; City Council of Curitiba; Institutional Design; Democratic Governance