Political regimes matter: Participation practices in the context of a competitive oligarchic policymaking in water management in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, 2007–2017

Abstract

AbstractThis article covers all types of participation in water policy processes in the city of Duque de Caxias in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Even though open opposition to the government is legally permitted since Brazil's democratization process, barriers remain for activist leaders to formulate and signify their preferences toward the government. The current literature on direct participation practices in policy processes tends to leave out political regime variables. This case study aims to show that, in fact, political regime variables are crucial. The article reintroduces participation practices in power dynamics in local water policymaking, building a model based on competitive oligarchy, multilevel policy coalitions, and political capacity literature. It argues that the political regime matters in understanding participation practices and that, despite legal democratization that opened rights to organize opposition and participation in Brazil in 2007, local activist leaders are restrained by a particular kind of oligarchy—an oligarchic technical–political–productivist policy coalition that “owns” policy through direct participation in the political process. This case study shows that four decades after the policy shift in the 1980s, in some territories and sectors Brazilian democracy may be on the pathway of competitive oligarchy—very open to opposition rights, but still closed to the participation of this opposition in policy and decision‐making processes.