Observing that the limits of representation and the consequent formation of ruling elites within organizations as posted by the classic elitists are responsible for creating deep vices and cleavages within democracies, new policies for popular participation and deliberation are being designed and proposed in present times in Brazil. In this context, it appears that new practices - such as participatory budgeting, based on the assumption that a truly democratic government must be organized by institutions built on a collective process of public debate and deliberation among all citizens - can be the solution for a better and stronger democratic path. The question is whether these policies, as they are being designed and formulated, can overcome the limits and challenges to democracy as mentioned by elitist thought. Therefore, one of the claims of this paper is the comparison to be made considering the theory and the implementation of public policies in Brazil, considered as ways to circumvent the limits of political representation. Moreover, the purpose of the paper is to show that the theoretical discussion has a direct relevance both for debate and assessment practices. Specifically, it intends to analyze the purpose of the participatory management policy in the government agenda, by means of countering the corresponding speech with the institutional engineering through which the policy is implemented. Also, as it is known, even in environments with popular participation and deliberation, there is scope for the proliferation of cronyism and construction of new elites that soak up new spaces by the fragility of the institution, or by the intention of their institutional engineering. However, there is space for discussion as the idea of popular political participation. In spite of being considered to be of the utmost relevance, it is not necessarily compatible with the expansion of democracy.
