Os usos institucionais da sociedade civil: O exemplo dos Conselhos de Aglomeração

• Main Author: Pierre Mazet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2007-06-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: participatory democracy; civil society; France; territorial planning; local development; citizenship
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/780

Participatory democracy practices in France received a decisive boost with the Development Councils of the provinces (pays) and urban agglomerations (Voynet Law, 1999). The inclusion of citizens in the political life these structures have enabled has not, however, met expectations. Based on three studies of the Southern Arcachon basin and the urban agglomerations of Bordeaux and La Rochelle, this article explores the diverse make-up of the Development Councils, the role played by local councillors in appointing and controlling members, and the difficulties of including anonymous inhabitants in local government. Reference is also made to the predominance of individuals close to elected local councillors and above all to various types of specialist and administrative staff, who are accustomed to the logic of planning and political-administrative parlance. The monopoly over debate exerted by specialist discourse drives citizens away from the associational, cultural and Trades Union world of Development Councils. The final diagnosis, however, is not purely negative, since it points to a number of deliberative virtualities, to reconciling interests, to the opening up of local political activity and innovation-based political relations set in motion by the functioning of the Development Councils.