The urban poor as actors of civil society in Brazil and Chile: democratization , cultural changes and participation in the nineties

Abstract

The main argument of this article is although the social rights were eliminated from the Chilean constitution and in Brazil they were not made affective, there have been improvements in life conditions on certain groups of urban poor people. These improvements are related with the actively participation in civil society and with the occupation of the political space opened up by the redemocratization processes. The urban poor people assign now more emphasis on political relations with the different State institutions.