摘要：The main objective of the thesis is to deepen the understanding of the influence of social capital and institutions in the performance of public government structures in two Latin-American cities: Porto Alegre and Montevideo. The work develops the hypothesis that the synergy between the institutions and the social capital increases the effectiveness of the public policy. Thus, through review of specialized bibliography, the analysis of quantitative research NUPESAL/UFRGS, the conduct of documentary research using public budget documents, and semi structured interviews with local government employees an attempt was made to demonstrate that high levels of Social Capital and the existence of formal institutions can improve the effectiveness of public services.
