PARTICIPAÇÃO SOCIAL, CULTURA POLÍTICA E INDICADORES DE ASSOCIATIVISMO: OS DIRIGENTES DE ENTIDADES SOCIAIS

The central idea of the present discussion is that, the struggle for constructing democracy is located within the civil society, not just within the State. It is understood that entities in associative practices make democratic life more dynamic, once such entities are spaces where there is political and civic socialization; they are open communication channels between the society and the State and are also, spaces for formulating and questioning public politics andpolicies. The present paper has as main focus the political culture and the associativism in the local extent. It aims at exploring the emergence of a civic and political culture, favorable to the establishment of citizenship, and to the construction of democratic practices in the Metropolitan Area of Maringá - Paraná. The political behavior, translated in terms of political culture of leaders of civil society associations, will enable to measure the relations and attitudes concerning the political system.