Avanços e impasses do Conselho Municipal de Saúde de Patos na prática do controle social.

Abstract

Under the light of the conceptual discussion on the relation between civic culture, participative and democratic mechanisms of management and efficacy, this work analyzes the institutional work of the municipal health council of Patos - PB, in order to check the possibilities it has to influence on the formulation of a public agenda of heath policies and also in the control of its execution in the town. Considering that it is first needed that the concils really exist and that they work regularly so that they can be effective, we analyzed the creation and the dynamic of functioning of the council. The main technique used in the study was the field research with participant observation and open semi-strutured interviews, basis of the methodology of social anthropology, in association with the resources of quantitative methodology. The research observed severe problems which limit the participative potential of the council, among them we specially cite the result of the relation between the public management, which a traditional way to manage public property, worsened by the ineffective representation of councilors due to their poor political and technical preparation. Concerning the effectiveness of the council in this process, it was observed a low capacity to influence in the formulation of the municipal health agenda. The low effectiveness is reflected in the efficiency of the council. It can also be concluded that the preparation of councilors is the best way to overcome the limits imposed by the works of the council. On the other hand, the council experience shows the importance of this democratic innovation with popular participation in the formation a civic society.