Participação social em organizações internacionais: o caso do Instituto de Políticas Públicas em Direitos Humanos do Mercosul (IPPDH)

Abstract

The strengthening of transnational activism between the 1960s and 1970s demonstrated the strength and influence of the non-state actors in the international policy. In addition to the demands and social uprisings in the streets around the world, such actors began to exert influence so that their demands were represented in international organizations, through institutional spaces of dialogue. From theory to practice, the issue of social participation is a subject that goes through all this work. The focus of this Dissertation is on conducting an exploratory analysis on the Mercosur Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights (IPPDH), investigating the institutionalization, structure, schedule and public consultations of the IPPDH, between the years of 2009 and 2018. To achieve the proposed objectives, we turned to the bibliographic review, documentary analysis and interviews. As a support for understanding the participatory issue in IPPDH, we also mapped participatory mechanisms in international organizations and institutions. Regard the participatory issue in the IPPDH, we verified, despite the limitation of records and official information that social participation in Mercosur has a top-down character, since the government representatives are those who determine the initial rules of the game, as well as who can play. Although there has been widespread and important democratization in the region, regarding the participation of non-state actors in international organizations, the top-down character persists as the main barrier to an effective and substantial participation.