PUBLIC HEARINGS, LEGISLATIVE SCHOOLS, AND PIERRE BOURDIEU

Abstract

This theoretical essay examines, in light of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of game, illusio, capital, habitus and field, the role of Legislative Schools in making better use of public hearings. It starts from the following question: do Legislative Schools contribute to making better use of public hearings? Such use is defined along three dimensions (participation, understanding and responsiveness), and responsiveness is understood as the willingness of representatives to consider the contributions of those they represent and to account for what is done with them. The essay is qualitative and interpretive, built on a narrative literature review in sources such as SciELO, the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and the repositories of Ipea and Enap, and it takes as its starting point the author's professional experience at the Municipal Chamber of Mococa, São Paulo. It argues that the political education offered by Legislative Schools can increase citizens' cultural and legal capital and reshape the habitus of public servants and legislators, but that its effects depend on institutional conditions beyond the school itself: active public communication, inclusion of groups with little prior political capital, procedural transparency and feedback on the contributions received. It concludes that Legislative Schools can help make better use of public hearings, especially regarding participation and understanding, but that responsiveness requires changes in the institutional design of the legislatures themselves; without them, political education tends to produce frustration rather than engagement.