摘要：The creation of different mechanisms for popular participation was one of the notable innovations introduced by Left and Center-Left parties which were responsible for city government in Latin America during the eighties and nineties. The participatory budget introduced by the Workers´ Party in Porto Alegre won world fame and was widely copied in the region. However, once they won power at a national level, these same parties abandoned the participatory mechanisms, together with the attempt to create a more solid democracy. This article examines the Workers’ Party in Brazil, the Broad Front in Uruguay and Chavism in Venezuela, in order to explain why these participatory mechanisms have been replaced by more corporatist structures or, as in the Venezuelan case, by more orthodox Leftist visions.
