Challenges of social participation in health councils

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explicit, through a theoretical analysis, the important role of society and the construction of political subjects in the implementation of SUS by the Health Councils. These reflections contribute to the discussion on modes of social participation that are being built within the arenas of collegiate participation in Brazilian democracy. It discusses the political changes triggered between 1970 and 1990, when different modes of social participation would find their main policy challenges. Then, we analyze some of the dilemmas of social participation on councils from a theoretical perspective, based on the reflection on new social movements and on neo-corporatism. Health Councils, in 1990, became institutionalized and expressed the need for compromise between the state and society. They formalized social participation and social control on the construction of the political agendas of health, being deeply influenced by domestic political context. The conclusion discusses the change created in Health Councils and the role they effectively play nowadays.