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Abstract
This article aims to explore how Brazilian city-level public officials have used citizens’ assemblies to implement climate policies effectively in communities where other emergencies require political action. We analyze the implementation of citizens’ assemblies on climate change in three Brazilian cities in different regions, with distinct demographic densities, social development rates, and mayors’ political affiliations. Cities are where people experience the most consequences of climate change. In the Brazilian context, the Bolsonaro federal administration has weakened both environmental and citizen participation policies. This adds to previously known challenges for policy making in the issue, including countering the interests of some industries and the construction sector. Citizens’ assemblies are a democratic innovation that promotes the inclusion of the population in the development of public policies, particularly in times of democratic crisis. In this study, we examine the implementation process of citizens’ assemblies in Brazil through interviews and documentary analysis of experiences implemented by the Brazilian NGO Delibera Brasil. This research offers valuable insights into the role of citizens’ assemblies as catalysts for informed and participatory climate policymaking in Brazilian municipalities.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Mini-publics and citizens' assemblies are two names to deliberative democracy implemented in practice. Distinction between them can be made on the basis of the number of participants, but there is no authoritative definition as to when to apply one or the other. Since the cases explored in this article are self-described citizens' assemblies, we will prioritize using this term in the text.
2 Decree 9.758/2019 (Bezerra et al. Citation2022; Bezerra et al. Citation2024).
4 It is worth mentioning that there were additional restrictive measures imposed on social participation during Bolsonaro's government and that of its predecessor, Michel Temer (2016-2018).
5 This author develops the concept of Participatory Institutions based on Democratic Theory's definition of institutions as a "set of norms and rules that structure social and political action" (Avritzer Citation2008, 45).
6 Although this specific format traces its roots to the Global North, it is worth noting that other types of deliberative practices have existed in the Global South.
7 http://DELIBERA BRASIL.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ESTATUTO-SOCIAL.pdf
8 These interviews were conducted in the context of another article (Rodrigues Citation2023)
9 In addition to the experiences of Brazilian NGO Delibera Brasil, we have mapped the Brazilian Citizens' Assembly on Gene Editing that focused on the use of CRISPR in the agricultural area (UFMG Citation2023). CRISP is a technological tool that allows genetic modifications to DNA chains and has implications for agriculture and biodiversity.
11 For instance, in one week in October, the councilor organized a blood donation action in the City in partnership with the state blood bank, and this paralyzed their capacity to engage in any other activity for the entire week. The Citizen Assembly calendar had to be worked around that.
12 E.g., the Citizen Assemblies meetings were to commence on a given date in November. This coincided with the Black Conscience Month, which kept most of her staff busy with activities, and they were unable to lend a hand to the single staff occupied with the CA.
13 This difficulty is not exclusive to mini-publics. There is a long history of demand for the remuneration of counselors in already institutionalized and mandatory councils which has not found a solution to date in Brazil experiences.
14 Brazil's longstanding participatory policies have been resumed since President Lula took office in 2023.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Silvia Cervellini
Silvia Cervellini is co-founder and Coordinator of Delibera Brasil since 2017. After an executive career at IBOPE for more than 20 years, leading planning and service teams for Public Opinion and Market Intelligence. Graduated in Social Science from University of São Paulo, with Masters in Public Opinion from the University of Connecticut, she is co-author of the book What is Public Opinion and more recently co-author of the article Mini-publics and Democratic Innovation: the case of Jardim Lapenna, in the Brazilian Journal of Social Sciences. e-mail: [email protected]
Karin Adams
Karin Adams is a researcher and practitioner in the areas of democracy and international political economy. In the topic of democratic innovations, Karin has acted as a project coordinator at Delibera Brasil, and as a coordinating member of the electoral movement Bancada Ativista. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from Universidade Federal Fluminense in Cultural Studies and a Master's Degree from Pontifícia Universidade Católica – Rio de Janeiro in International Relations, and is an alumna of the MGG Academy (IDOS) and Vetor Brasil programs. e-mail: [email protected]
Maira Rodrigues
Maira Rodrigues has a PhD in Political Science from the University of São Paulo – USP and is a researcher at the Democracy and Collective Action Center – NDAC and Center for Critical Imagination – CCI both of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning – CEBRAP. She works with themes of public policies, environment, socio-state interaction, governance and Social Network Analysis – ARS. e-mail: [email protected]
Lilian Sendretti
Lilian Sendretti is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of São Paulo (USP). She holds a master’s degree in Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from USP. She is a researcher at ÉRIGAL at the Université de Montréal and at the Center for Political Institutions and Social Movements and the Democracy and Collective Action Center, both hosted at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), working on projects concerning social movements, protests, participation, and democracy. e-mail: [email protected]