PARTICIPAÇÃO SOCIAL E GESTÃO DEMOCRÁTICA: UM RESGATE DO QUE FOI PERDIDO

The article addresses the importance of social participation and democratic management as fundamental elements for the development and improvement of social institutions. The text highlights the progressive loss of these principles over time and proposes a reflection on the impacts of this reduction on the effectiveness of democracy. This study aims to reflect on the importance of social participation for the democratic management of local territories, specifically. The work was developed based on bibliographic research to support what is proposed for reflection. Throughout the article, historical and contemporary examples are presented that demonstrate the correlation between social participation, democratic management, and the strengthening of institutions. Therefore, the relevance of this work is related to the need to bring to current debates in cities the importance of social participation for the movement of democratic management in these territories, especially urgent after the context of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit Brazil and the world, leading to the cooling of interpersonal relationships, the freezing of movements, and social organizations.