Participation has become a buzzword and lost much of its impact. Nevertheless, there are enough arguments to revisit the concept and its use in social research. One of them is that it is part of a tradition of action and participatory research which acquired specific features in different parts...

The experience of participatory budgeting that began in Porto Alegre in 1989 was carried over to the state level in Rio Grande do Sul in 1999. Since then, governments have tried out different modes of popular participation and consultation, culminating with the creation of a system of popular...