Escola de Governo: Agente de mudança?

Abstract

The aim of this work is to compare the cases of two Brazilian schools of government - the National School of Public Administration (ENAP) and the Sao Paulo School of Government (EG-SP) in order to identify and analyse the convergences of the state model with the non-governmental one, and the essential differences between them. Special emphasis is given to their respective contribution to broadening the ways and mechanisms for civil society's participation in public affairs, that is, their contribution to the Brazilian experience of participative democracy. It is taken as a hypothesis that actual models of Schools of Government tend to enlarge and become radically democratic. That is best expressed by the shift of some schools to preparing public managers, conceived in a larger framework than the mere government manager. Thus, as the act of governing has acquired new meanings, with the emergence of a non-state, novel public sphere, the formation of new schools of government has given rise to distinct models. That liberation comes to address the new configuration of the public sector that fostered significant changes in the interrelationship of stakeholders, demanding a specific empowering action for the several parties so as to ensure the democratization and qualification of their interconnection, negotiation and action processes. The changes occurred in the relationship between state and society have been consolidated in the Brazilian 1988 Constitution, as it introduced a number of managing mechanisms and instruments to incorporate citizens regarded as active political agents -in the definition of public policies. The School of Government's general model has since undergone adjustments consistent with a state that promotes the participation of civil society in the public administration within a context of participative democracy.