Brazil Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre

Brazil's political history had long been marked by authoritarian, techno-bureaucratic regimes in which the state dominated over civil society. A political culture based on a tradition of clientelism and patrimonial elitism meant that the management of municipal public budgets (the 'black box' as it was known) was far from transparent. All this produced a society with extreme social inequalities and restricted meaningful forms of popular participation.