Public Leisure Policies in Porto Alegre, Brazil: From Representative Democracy to Participative Democracy

Abstract

Leisure public policies in Brazil date from the beginning of the 20th century when “Recreation Gardens” (Jardins de Recreio) were created in Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo. From that period to today, different ideological conceptions have guided them. This study evaluates the main differences between the leisure policies formulated in “trabalhismo”1 (end of 80s decade) and in the participative democracy (90s decade) established by the Popular Front in Porto Alegre. The procedures of data collection and analysis constituted a process in which the feedback mechanism worked constantly based on the “triangulation model” proposed by Triviüos (1987). The research involved analysing official documents, interviewing managers, and trying to situate the studied problem within a national and international context. Differences are noted in the management models, budgets adopted, administrative structures, and leisure concepts linked to the policies, and in the proposed actions' range and decentralisation.