ANALYSIS OF SPACES FOR CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN BRAZILIAN JUDICIAL POLICY ACCORDING TO SHERRY ARNSTEIN’S LADDER OF PARTICIPATION

INTRODUCTION: The Brazilian democratization process, after a long period of authoritarian regime, enabled the implementation of spaces for citizen participation. In view of the growth of these spaces, the discussion on the subject becomes extremely relevant. First, it is necessary to differentiate between citizen participation and popular participation. It is also of paramount importance to clarify the theme of accountability, its meaning and its applicability in Brazilian politics and the judiciary – classifying the different types of social participation in vogue in Brazil according to their respective modality of accountability, which can be typical vertical, social vertical or horizontal. AIMS: we seek to identify the mechanisms of accountability in the Brazilian judiciary, duly making its classification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through theoretical and conceptual research, the bibliographic analysis, combined with a personal evaluation, makes possible the construction of this report. RESULTS: This study analyzes the appointment and hearing of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) Ministers, the STF Public Hearings and the Jury Court as forms of accountability and citizen participation. Citizen participation, in turn, appears in politics in different gradations, as illustrated by the “ladder of citizen participation” created by Sherry R. Arnstein. Many citizen participation spaces are in fact mere performative staging, manipulating civil society. Democratic management should be a set of actions and spaces that enable people’s participation, far beyond suffrage, and this is not what happens. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: It is necessary to create more and more spaces for social participation, in addition to the revitalization and expansion of existing spaces.

KEYWORDS: Judicial policy; Accountability; Citizen participation; Judicial appointment; Jury court.