Participation in the higher education chamber of the national education council during Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration

After the creation of the Law 9.394/96, which established the bases of Brazilian education, it is noted that government policies initiated at Fernando Henrique Cardoso government reinforced the education decentralization process, combining higher education reform with state reform ruled by neoliberal policies. The literature about Higher Education contemporary problems points to three central themes: access to higher education, academic organization and public universities privatization. Therefore, it is important to analyze the public space of relationship between state and civil society constituted for making decisions in this area because its deliberations directly affect public policy development. This paper aims to examine the capacity of Higher Education Chamber of the National Education Council to consolidate civil society participation in decision-making issues concerning Higher Education in the period that includes 1997 and 2002. The National Education Council was selected because it is the highest forum for participation: it discusses the problems involved in national education, especially in higher education, whose decisions are taken by Higher Education Chamber. The period 1997-2002 was defined because it is the period of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso government, after the creation of Law 9394/96. The official documents and Council documents analysis showed that this public space consolidates the participation because there is an educational process of recognition of civil society issues, although there are restrictions imposed by the government.