A world that can be - democracy, education and participatory budgets

Abstract

Sergio Baierle is one of the founders of CIDADE, an NGO that carries out research and capacity building with respect to the Participatory Budget (PB) in Porto Alegre , Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The Participatory Budgety as will be explained throughout this interview, is heralded as an example of ' deliberative democracy ' which entails a process of citizenship education and participation. In this interview , Sergio Baierle discusses this project as well as such other relevant topics as the World Social Forum with its message that another world is possible , the role of the PT in Brazilian society at the municipal , state and federal levels , Lula1 s performance as President of Brazil, and the impact of neoliberalism on Brazilian politics. The interview was carried out halfway through President Lula's first term of office. Porto Alegre has, in recent years, been the focus of attention of progressive people, all over the world, searching for resources of hope in an age characterized by widespread cynicism concerning possible alternatives to neoliberalism. How justified is this focus on Porto Alegre and the Workers' Party (PT) initiatives there? There are many reasons why Porto Alegre has become a world reference for the left. One of them seems fundamental to me: the radical way in which the participatory proposition was undertaken in the context of a global scenario characterized by precarious employment and the dismantling of the welfare state. In Porto Alegre, social questions, as felt and as defended by citizens through direct participation and new forms of representation, became the central policy of local government, strongly shocking those who traditionally took over municipal policies (private public transportation companies, contractors, real estate incorporators, retailers and proprietors of mass communications) . [excerpt].