POWER, LEGITIMACY AND BUDGET: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF THE PUBLIC BUDGET

This paper intends to investigate how is established the dynamics of power between State, society and individuals, under the specific focus of the power to tax and managing budgets in Brazilian law. Tax power is a necessary tool for raising funds for the fulfillment of State tasks. Different theories have sought to demonstrate how the exercise of this power is legitimized, which, during its execution, arouses conflicts and disputes over the allocation of public revenues, manifested in the process of elaboration and compliance with budget laws. The problem to be faced, therefore, is the analysis of the relations of power, legitimacy and domination within the State, and how these issues are developed in relation to the power to institute taxes and the search for more democratic means of managing those resources. From this idea, it is necessary, through the bibliographic analysis guided by the deductive method, to analyze the different theoretical currents about its constitution, how the relations of domination take place, and the legitimation instruments of such power, notably participatory budgeting and social control of the budget. The hypothesis is that in a complex and plural society it is necessary to use democratic forms of legitimizing the use of power, especially the power to tax, as well as to manage the essential resources for the maintenance of public services. In conclusion, it is necessary, on the one hand, to justify the exercise of the power to tax and, on the other, to legitimize the management of the budget. In this sense, the analysis of Athenian democracy can be a contribution to the identification of contemporary possibilities of social participation.