Democratization or asymmetry of representation: notes on State Councils for Food and Nutrition Safety

Abstract

Councils are a key institutional innovation within the Brazilian post-1988

constitutional framework. They are structured so as to include representatives

of civil society and the State within the same arena. The aim of this

article is to engage in critical discussion on the representation of social

organizations within these arenas. Our hypothesis suggests that representatives

often distance themselves so much from their social base that

they actually become a sort of elite. Thus, we raise the issue of whether

the formal democratic structure and mechanisms that these councils

incorporate are enough to guarantee a diversity of representatives and

representational practices, or if, through the social and political resources

that representatives hold, gaps between constituents’ demands and representatives’

actions re-emerge, notwithstanding the normative precepts

of equality that the councils themselves advocate.

Keywords: councils, elites, representation.