Governação, cidadania e participação nas pequenas e médias cidades: estudo comparado entre cidades portuguesas e canadianas

Abstract

A afirmação crescente de modelos de governação participativa decorre da normalização contemporânea da participação, tanto enquanto valor e prática fundamentais de uma cidadania ativa, quanto como critério da eficácia governativa municipal e do questionamento e reinvenção das democracias representativas. A frequência, intensidade e notoriedade de práticas, iniciativas e interações de participação num número crescente de cidades constituem os pontos de partida deste trabalho, que procura analisar e problematizar os processos de governação participativa por referência a um conjunto alargado de perspetivas teóricas e analíticas sobre os conceitos de cidadania, participação e governação. A investigação, de natureza eminentemente intensiva e qualitativa e assente em estudo de casos, materializou-se no estudo comparado entre duas cidades portuguesas e duas cidades canadianas. A estratégia de pesquisa apoiou-se na análise de fontes documentais e de registos de observação direta de eventos observados em projetos de participação, quer de iniciativa cidadã, quer de iniciativa municipal. Integrou também os registos orais das entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas a 86 atores com intervenção nas quatro cidades, incluindo cidadãos, técnicos e políticos. A pesquisa revelou que as práticas, lógicas e racionalidades subjacentes à governação municipal participativa compõem um espectro alargado de possibilidades e de combinações variáveis entre atores envolvidos, papéis desempenhados, recursos e estratégias mobilizados, sendo notória a diversidade dos processos quanto à forma, objetivos e alcance. Com base na análise da cultura e das práticas de participação em cada cidade, a tese identifica e problematiza um conjunto de dimensões e componentes centrais para a compreensão dos processos participativos. O estudo permitiu mapear os aspetos críticos que delimitam a eficácia da participação, a amplitude participativa dos processos, o grau de institucionalização e transversalidade e, finalmente, a qualidade de cidadania gerada. Partindo das dimensões e componentes dos processos participativos, foi possível delinear perfis tendenciais de participação e modelos de governação participativa. vii ABSTRACT The growing acceptance of models of participatory governance stems from the contemporary normalization of participation as a fundamental value and practice of active citizenship, as well as being one of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of municipal governance and in the questioning and reinvention of representative democracies. The frequency, intensity and notoriety of participatory practices, initiatives and interactions in a growing number of cities constitute the starting points of this work, which seeks to analyze and problematize the processes of participatory governance by reference to a wide range of theoretical and analytical perspectives on the concepts of citizenship, participation and governance. This investigation, which takes an intensive and qualitative approach and is based on case studies, is in the form of a comparative study between two Portuguese and two Canadian cities. Research was based on the analysis of documentary sources and records of directly observed events that occurred in projects carried out by both citizens and municipalities. It also includes oral records of semi-structured interviews with 86 actors who intervened in the four cities, including citizens, technicians and politicians. The research revealed that the practices, logics and rationales underlying participatory municipal governance comprise a broad spectrum of possibilities and variable combinations between the actors involved, roles played, and resources and strategies mobilized, with a notable diversity of processes in terms of form, objectives and scope. Based on the analysis of the culture and practices of participation in each city, this thesis identifies and problematizes a set of dimensions and components that are central to the understanding of participatory processes. The study made it possible to map the critical aspects that delimit the effectiveness of participation, the participatory scope of the processes, the degree of institutionalization and transversality and, finally, the quality of citizenship generated. Based on the dimensions and components of participatory processes, it was possible to outline profiles of participation and models of participatory governance.

The growing acceptance of models of participatory governance stems from the contemporary normalization of participation as a fundamental value and practice of active citizenship, as well as being one of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of municipal governance and in the questioning and reinvention of representative democracies. The frequency, intensity and notoriety of participatory practices, initiatives and interactions in a growing number of cities constitute the starting points of this work, which seeks to analyze and problematize the processes of participatory governance by reference to a wide range of theoretical and analytical perspectives on the concepts of citizenship, participation and governance. This investigation, which takes an intensive and qualitative approach and is based on case studies, is in the form of a comparative study between two Portuguese and two Canadian cities. Research was based on the analysis of documentary sources and records of directly observed events that occurred in projects carried out by both citizens and municipalities. It also includes oral records of semi-structured interviews with 86 actors who intervened in the four cities, including citizens, technicians and politicians. The research revealed that the practices, logics and rationales underlying participatory municipal governance comprise a broad spectrum of possibilities and variable combinations between the actors involved, roles played, and resources and strategies mobilized, with a notable diversity of processes in terms of form, objectives and scope. Based on the analysis of the culture and practices of participation in each city, this thesis identifies and problematizes a set of dimensions and components that are central to the understanding of participatory processes. The study made it possible to map the critical aspects that delimit the effectiveness of participation, the participatory scope of the processes, the degree of institutionalization and transversality and, finally, the quality of citizenship generated. Based on the dimensions and components of participatory processes, it was possible to outline profiles of participation and models of participatory governance.