Luiza Teixeira
over the theme, which has not been done yet. So, so far, the conference role can be defined as advising and consulting.
Bringing the three dimensions together, we get to the following Figure 4.
Figure 4: Virtual Consocial democracy cube
6. Conclusion
This paper aimed at to discussing: a) how the changes brought by the diffusion of Information Technologies( ICTs) are related to democracies; b) if the use of ICTs can provide further democratization; c) and whether the population is able to understand and make a good use of the information available on the network. The literature reviewed does not show a consensual opinion on the potentialities concerning the use of ICTs to promote more public participation.
Therefore, in order to respond to some of these questionings, we presented an analysis of the I Virtual Conference on Transparency and Social Control in Brazil, using the Democracy Cube Model proposed by Fung( 2006). The results of the analysis demonstrate great potentiality of participation promotion and citizen engagement. However, two of the three dimensions analyzed in the Democracy Cube present limits. In the first dimension, we could notice that the selection of participants could include a greater variety of public. The participation is opened to everyone with access to the internet, but the profile of participants indicates a very specific group, that does not match with Brazil’ s social reality, where the majority of the population does not reach college level. In the second dimension, referred to modes of communication and decision making, it is possible to observe a lot of negotiation and deliberation during the virtual conference, which clearly demonstrates that there is no limitation in this respect.
The third dimension presents the greatest limitation. It is not clear to the population in general what will be done with the result of the entire conference process that involved municipalities and states from all over the country. It is known that, in Brazil, conference processes concerning other issues led to the formulation of public policies, such as the United Public Health System. However, transparency and social control does not seem to be an issue in which public policies can be clearly structured.
In fact, the internet emerges as a good tool for promoting participation. Nonetheless, we believe its potentialities can be better explored. In order to engage citizens to participate, it is necessary to broadly publicize actions as the Virtual Consocial. It is also important to let people know what exactly will be accomplished with the results of the participation processes, so as to keep people motivated.
References
Avritzer, L.( 2009) Democracia, desigualdade e políticas públicas no Brasil. Research report to IPEA.
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