Wagner de Melo Romão

Partidos políticos e innovación democrática: más allá de purezas y perversiones

This article aims to review the conceptual importof the term “political mediation”, to shedlight on the analytical reach of indirect politics, whose scope of possibilities has been usually thought of as confined within the opposites of political representation and clientelism. Ananalytical exercise is put forth as a possible and tentative means not only to establish a vocabulary which may be more sensitive towards present time demands, but also to –in Bunge’swords- initially allow for the reinterpretation of older symbols of our political vocabulary. Towards this goal, besides a linguistic and conceptual itinerary of the term “mediation”, each of the three analytical dimensions of indirect politics is developed, favoring dialogue with theories of representation, which channels into an analytical model we call the “cube ofindirect politics”. The article ends with a brief case-classification exercise aimed at showing the displacement produced by the model in the understanding of given experiences in indirect politics.

Political Intermediation and Public Policy in Brazil: Councils and Conferences in the Policy Spheres of Health and Women’s Rights

This chapter discusses a much-needed accurate understanding of the role of participation in policy making by focusing on three different dimensions of political intermediation carried out by participatory institutions in Brazil. It is argued that both policy sector trajectories of development and policy communities shape political intermediation by participatory institutions in policy making. By examining participation in health and women rights through councils and conferences—two of the most consolidated experiences of participatory democracy in Brazil—the chapter shows that the degree of sectoral institutionalization and consolidation of policy communities favour legitimacy, accountability and representativeness of the practices performed by intermediaries.

#naovaitercopa: manifestações, Copa do Mundo e as eleições de 2014

O artigo busca recuperar o processo das manifestacoes de junho de 2013, na tentativa de compreender os elementos que a caracterizaram. Pretende-se indicar como e porque a principal consequencia politica gerada pelas manifestacoes tornou-se a propria possibilidade de sua reedicao, em junho de 2014, durante a realizacao da Copa do Mundo de Futebol, organizada pela FIFA e pelo governo brasileiro. Indica-se qual podera ser a natureza e amplitude dos impactos de uma eventual nova onda de manifestacoes sobre as eleicoes gerais nesse ano. Defende-se que o elemento chave da questao esta na capacidade do Estado, dos governos e de sua policia em lidar com manifestacoes com repertorios relativamente novos e mais incisivos e violentos.