Abstract (EN)

This text tries to approach the experiences of participative democracy from the ideal deweyiano of a “neighborhood democracy”, or, in our own terms, of a primary culture of the democracy. The intention is to approximate, theoretically, the recent French sociology’s debates on the theme, specially the studies about the gift, and the North American pragmatic tradition. In this tradition, the works of J. Dewey, C. Cooley and G. M. Mead are outstanding. These authors sought, each one to his way, the foundation of the democratic experience in the pre-political spheres of the community sociability, suggesting that the democracy needs to be seated in the structures of ordinary social interactions. It’s tested, then, of the analytical point of view, the hypothesis of a continuity among "primary democracy" (community) and "secondary democracy (institutional), verifying the paper of the voluntary associations in the mediation of this continuity.