Participação social em pequenas cidades: construção e validação de face e de conteúdo de uma escala de conceitos.

Abstract

Social Participation (SP) is one of the pillars of contemporary democracies and an essential guideline for public administration, based on active listening and the co-production of policies. More than a formality, it expresses the interaction between State and society, enabling citizens to influence decisions, oversee governmental actions, and strengthen bonds of trust. It contributes to legitimacy, transparency, and social inclusion. However, its implementation faces obstacles, especially in small Brazilian towns, marked by institutional weaknesses, low associative density, and structural limitations, which often render citizen participation nonexistent or merely symbolic. This research sought to address this gap by developing and validating a Concept Scale (CS) on Social Participation, focused on municipalities with up to 2,000 inhabitants. The study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive approach, with the municipality of Quixaba-PB as the empirical field, representative of this profile. The methodological process included construct definition, item generation, and validity analysis. The scale was validated in two stages: Content Validation (CV), conducted by specialists, and Face Validation (FV), carried out with local residents, ensuring conceptual consistency and accessible language. The result was a scale with 40 items in eight dimensions, structured according to Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Citizen Participation (LCP). This adaptation allows the identification of levels ranging from manipulation and therapy, associated with non-participation, to citizen control, which characterizes full empowerment. By applying this framework to small towns, the research contributes to identifying barriers, mapping perceptions, and proposing an innovative instrument capable of translating into measurable indicators a phenomenon historically treated in abstract terms. The choice of small towns was based on three factors: (1) low institutional structure, which limits councils and participatory spaces; (2) socioeconomic conditions, such as low schooling and income, which hinder access to instruments; and (3) academic invisibility, since studies on participation tend to focus on large urban centers, marginalizing smaller municipalities. The methodological approach, therefore, sought to give voice to populations frequently excluded from democratic debate. The results indicate that the scale not only fills a scientific gap but also constitutes a Technical-Technological Product (TTP) with practical application. Public managers may use it to diagnose levels of engagement and guide mobilization strategies. Researchers gain a validated instrument for comparisons among small municipalities. For society, it creates opportunities to strengthen democratic culture and expand active citizenship. It is concluded that the Concept Scale on Social Participation in small towns serves as a basis for further studies and represents a methodological and political advancement, by systematizing an underexplored field and providing support to improve local policies. More than measuring SP, it encourages its practice, contributing to democracy reaching marginalized spaces.