O uso das mídias sociais para apoiar uma gestão democrática: estudo de caso do município de Franco da Rocha

Abstract

The objective of this project is to analyze social participation in the municipal management of Franco da Rocha, with the use of social media, especially Facebook and to compare with other cities. Analyze how the managers of the cities are taking advantage of the social network to promote a participative management and to give visibility to the actions of the government. The author applied an online questionnaire to 184 (one hundred and eighty-four) citizens with the purpose of verifying their commitment and their leading role in the investment decisions. Also, interviews were made through an online questionnaire with the managers in order to account for how much the use of this tool contributes in integrating public management with the citizens’ daily lives. The federal government for years had supremacy on the decisions of investments, but with the promulgation of the Federal Constitution (1988) it lost the hegemony, having to divide power with the states and municipalities. The cities became an important public agent for social control as it is in the city that everything happens, where the social function of the state becomes more present. With the expansion of internet access and the consolidation of democracy, citizens are charging for transparency in the application of resources that meets the collective interest. In this context, it is important that municipalities provide, in addition to the instruments predicted in the City Statute, other means to increase social participation, promoting democratic management. In the analysis of the research responses, it is observed that the participants are aware of their role as citizens, but they see with disbelief the acceptance of the government. The results of the research with the managers of the municipality of Franco da Rocha shows that Facebook has been used as a great ally to stimulate participatory management and is the main social media used by municipal public management. The research was important to make the population aware of the importance of their participation in the city's public policy decisions and to analyze the difficulties that challenges municipal government in participatory management.