| Resumo: |
Make a comparative analysis between
Portuguese and Brazilian legislation concerning the exercise of political
power by citizens at the local level. The adopted perspective is that citizens
political participation should be expanded beyond the election time by the
so-called active citizenship. The first part presents a theoretical definition of the concept of democracy, emphasizing the definition of this concept by Italian jurist Norberto Bobbio. In
the second part it is shown the main failures of representative democracy in its current model. Finally, the
third part consists of an analysis of the Portuguese and Brazilian law which concluded that in both cases,
despite the existence of legal provision for the political activity of citizens, the same does not occur. To solve
this problem, it is suggested the legal redefinition of the concept of citizenship towards to what is called
active citizenship, which gives the citizen not only the right to participate but also the duty to do so. The article
is based on an eminently literature methodology, with the presentation of theoretical concepts on the topics
analyzed, as well as statistics which show that the current model, essentially based exclusively on the electoral
representation, generates detachment of the citizen from the res publica. The theme is particularly relevant
when considering the current context of political representation, in which new forms of citizen participation
are presented as necessary given the real disenchantment with the existing politics in most Western societies.
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