Abstract
J. Ricardo Tranjan’s “The Political Economy of Participatory Democracy in Brazil: A Case Study of Lages, 1977–1982” presents a historical, political-economic analysis of one of the precursory participatory municipal administrations in Brazil in the city of Lages, Santa Catarina. Tranjan considers how capitalist development may spur democratization processes by altering the balance of class power in favour of subordinate classes. This study of the Lages case demonstrates that including popular participation in local government was, at one point, a deliberate political move against one sector of the local ruling class, and was made possible by shifts in interclass power that resulted from changes in structural conditions. Tranjan’s political-economic analyses help us better understand the motivations of those pushing participatory reforms, the challenges they face, and the format of participatory initiatives.
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