Political Inclusion? Recruitment and selection of actors in the public policy conferences

Abstract This article evaluates comparatively the capacity of inclusion of the health and Social Assistance Conferences held in 2011 in Minas Gerais, through an analytical strategy that involves three distinct steps. Through a survey of 729 participants of these Conferences, this article comparatively analyzes: (1) who the participants of these Conferences are; (2) whether or not the impact of scale changes the participants’ socioeconomic and political profiles; and (3) what the PPC rules are concerning recruitment (who can participate) and representative processes (how are the delegate-representatives selected). The article found that these innovations include new actors, but they are not able to scale up and to get the higher scales, at least in Minas Gerais. To deal with these constraints, this article suggests the discussion and the changes on the PPC rules.