Limites e potencialidades dos conselhos de políticas : análise do conselho municipal de assistência social da cidade de Americana/ SP

Abstract

Our objective is to assess the possibilities and limitations of the City Council of Social Welfare (Conselho Municipal de Assistência Social - CMAS) of the city of Americana, based on the literature that examines and discusses the restraints of its institutional structure, as well as on the reports of the CMAS Board members who participated in the CMAS from July 2011 to June 2013. As a methodological approach to analyze the corpus, the following categories were taken into consideration: the board composition, the role and participation of board members, and the dynamics of deliberation. The possibilities and the limitations of the board members’ performance were then discussed. We have questioned whether and to what extent the policy councils present a set of possibilities that remain unexplored within a series of restraints. Beyond the impositions set by the structures of the institution, the limited participation of the people involved in the activities of the councils – such as meetings and committees, the lack of knowledge – on the part of the directors, and the non-recognition – on the part of the managing agency of social assistance policy – consist the main obstacles to the fulfillment of the potential of participatory institutions.