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The paper discusses potential linkages between political participation and the distribution of public goods and services at the local level. It considers a relation between greater participation and a better performance on the offer of public goods by governments by analyzing variables associated to managerial aspects. The study was conduced in eight Brazilian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine how political conversations take place on the online forum offered as part of the Digital Participatory Budget (OPD) in a Brazilian city, Belo Horizonte. The authors propose an analytical model based on deliberative theories in order to investigate the discussions over this participatory program. The main sample consists of the messages posted by the users (n=357) on the commentaries section. The results show that reciprocity and reflexivity among interlocutors are rare; however, the respect among the interlocutors and the justification levels in several arguments were high during the discussion. The authors conclude that, even in a situation in which there is no empowerment offered by of the digital tools, the internet can effectively provide environments to enhance a qualified discursive exchange. In spite of low levels of deliberativeness, the case study shows that there are important gains concerning social learning among the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate one of the main roles of political parties in a representative democracy: to organize and to control the production of representation. In order to do that, two internal party processes will be examined: the setting and maintaining of the party's organizational structure and the candidate selection for the Camara dos Deputados in the state of Sao Paulo for the PFL, PP, PMDB, PSDB and PT parties. The analysis is based on the idea that the more control political parties have over these two processes, the more vital are their party organizations in the representative dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the reelection issue and other variables related to it, such as desistance of running, running again and parliamentary renewal. Initially, the conceptual and methodological aspects of this line of inquiry. Later, it is centered in the case of the Chamber of Councilmen of Pelotas (RS), in the elections of 1982 up to 2004, with the objective of identifying patterns and trends that remain or that are modified along the time, as well as carrying through a comprehensive analysis of the political and institutional meanings of these phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]