Proposing an agonistic analytical framework to assess participatory initiatives in Brazil

This article intends to review the main arguments developed by the contemporary literature dedicated to assess the conditions for and outcomes of social participation in Brazil. Considering the emerging criticism that new aspects should be incorporated to this debate, this work explores an alternative line of thinking – Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic theory of democracy - from which I contend a new analytical framework can be developed in order to improve the understanding of the contributions of social participation to Brazil’s democracy.