A natureza e a função dos conselhos tutelares no contexto da democracia vigente na sociedade Brasileira contemporânea

Abstract

The aim of this study is to discuss the Youth Councils as legal and political entitities established by the Brazilian State in order to improve public management and ensure the participation of the social movements representatitives in governmental social policies created to protect children and adolescents. We have, therefore, focused on the interaction involving democracy, decentralization and councils to analyse the so-called participative strategies imposed by the neoliberal ideologies. The present study consists of three sections: relevant bibligraphy, documents and field research. In the first section we find a summary of the social and historical aspects of democracy and its present repercussions; the second investigates the formation of the Brazilian society together with the principles of political administrative decentralization, and the third studies the role of the Youth Councils in Brazil, particularly in the city of Maceió, stressing the limitations and challenges posed by the social issues involving children and adolescents. We conclude that the actions carried out by the Youth Councils, both in the country and in the city of Maceió, do not have the power to transform the realities faced by children and adolescents, but just reflect neoliberal ideologies.