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Countless studies of citizen participation in public decisionmaking point out the limitations of direct democracy when it is transported from the realm of political theory into the "real world." In contrast, this book examines a case where an innovative city government gave major decisionmaking power to ordinary citizens on a large scale—and managed to survive and prosper. Since 1989, the government of Porto Alegre, Brazil, led by the Workers' Party, has implemented a participatory budget program that is becoming a model for policymakers worldwide. Each year in this regional capital of 1.3 million people, residents meet in their neighborhoods to determine budget priorities. Tens of thousands attend the annual budget assemblies. Nearly a thousand work as delegates year-round, and a popularly elected council has final say on all city spending. Inventing Local Democracy tells this dramatic story of a group of activists who came to power in a city long dominated by patronage politics and elite rule. At the same time, it is a sociopolitical study of the impact that state-sponsored participatory forums can have on civil society. Examining this dual transformation, Abers provides a groundbreaking contribution to the theory of participatory democracy.

Political participation --- Local government --- Local administration --- Township government --- Subnational governments --- Administrative and political divisions --- Decentralization in government --- Public administration --- Citizen participation --- Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) --- Prefeitura de Porto Alegre (Brazil) --- Prefeitura Municipal de Porto Alegre (Brazil) --- Politics and government --- Citizen participation. --- Administration locale --- Participation politique --- Case studies. --- Participation des citoyens --- Cas, Etudes de --- Porto Alegre (Brazil) --- Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brésil) --- Politique et gouvernement