Translated and reviewed by Matheus Lucas Hebling
September 24, 2025
The article Repertórios de interação e instituições participativas: o subsistema estadual e nacional de Direitos Humanos [Repertoires of Interaction and Participatory Institutions: The State and National Human Rights Subsystem], by Eduardo Moreira da Silva (Federal University of Minas Gerais, UFMG), Antonio Carlos Andrade Ribeiro (Federal University of Ouro Preto, UFOP), Ana Luiza Martins de Medeiros (UFMG), Joe Campos Costa (UFMG), and Giulia de Aguiar Simões (UFMG), published in Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, investigates the mechanisms connecting state-level and national human rights councils.
The study takes as its context the institutional changes introduced by elected governments at the state and federal levels, focusing on the changes that affected councils tied to the human rights field. The research’s principal aim is to identify what drives connectivity between state and national human rights councils, particularly in light of the institutional changes introduced by elected governments in both spheres.
The article seeks to determine whether mechanisms exist that favor federative coordination among these councils, working from the hypothesis that civil society could act as a significant connector in this process. Its specific objectives include characterizing the councils’ institutional design, analyzing changes in their composition, and establishing how often they meet.
The research combined several techniques, chief among them Social Network Analysis (SNA), used to map the networks of state and national councils and to identify possible connectors between them. The authors also carried out a documentary analysis of the bylaws and minutes of the state councils, applying a Named Entity Recognition (NER) algorithm followed by manual verification of the information collected.
For the national councils, data were drawn from official platforms. A survey was designed and sent to council members, but owing to the constraints imposed by the pandemic and the low response rate, this stage was dropped from the article.
The findings indicate that there is significant connectivity among councils located within the same territory — whether state or national — with governmental and hybrid actors playing a prominent role. Connection between councils at different levels of the federation, however, proved fragile or nonexistent.
Joint participation by organizations in both national and state councils was infrequent, and institutional design likewise did not emerge as a meaningful factor in forging connections. The study also found that while the state councils maintained regulatory stability, the national councils underwent structural changes, such as reductions in the number of members and alterations to how often they meet.
The study contributes to understanding the limitations and the potential of federative coordination mechanisms within participatory institutions in the human rights field. By bringing to light the weak articulation between state and national councils, the article draws attention to the need for deeper investigation into the role of hybrid actors and of civil society as potential connectors.
The research also provides material for the debate on the visibility and effectiveness of these institutions, which face shared structural challenges such as scarce resources, operational difficulties, and limited capacity to communicate with society at large.
In summary
- The article investigates what drives connectivity between state and national human rights councils in Brazil.
- It employs Social Network Analysis and documentary analysis to examine the composition, functioning, and interactions of these councils.
- It finds greater connectivity among councils at the same level of the federation, while ties between the state and national spheres are fragile or nonexistent.
- It identifies structural changes in the national councils, with reductions in members and meetings, while the state councils maintained regulatory stability.
- It points to shared challenges such as scarce resources, low institutional visibility, and constraints on the councils’ capacity to function as deliberative bodies.
About the authors
Eduardo Moreira da Silva is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG). He works in the areas of political participation, deliberative institutions, and public policy analysis, with a focus on public policy councils and federative coordination.
Antonio Carlos Andrade Ribeiro is a professor at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, UFOP). His research addresses social participation, public policy, and deliberative democracy, with an emphasis on the articulation between different spheres of government.
Ana Luiza Martins de Medeiros is a master’s student in the Graduate Program in Political Science at UFMG. Her research focuses on participatory institutions and networks of interaction among human rights councils.
Joe Campos Costa is an undergraduate student in Political Science at UFMG. He collaborates on research projects concerning deliberative systems and institutionalized participation in Brazil.
Giulia de Aguiar Simões is an undergraduate student in Political Science at UFMG. She takes part in studies devoted to the institutional analysis of councils and to the structuring of deliberative subsystems.
Publication details
Title: Repertórios de interação e instituições participativas: o subsistema estadual e nacional de Direitos Humanos
Authors: Eduardo Moreira da Silva, Antonio Carlos Andrade Ribeiro, Ana Luiza Martins de Medeiros, Joe Campos Costa, and Giulia de Aguiar Simões
Year of publication: 2023
Available in: Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, vol. 38
Keywords: human rights councils, participatory institutions, federative coordination, social network analysis, repertoires of interaction, civil society, deliberative democracy, public policy councils, Brazilian federalism, institutional design, political participation, hybrid actors, deliberative systems, named entity recognition, state and national councils
