This article analyzes the daily political activities of city council representatives in a municipality belonging to the state of Rio de Janeiro, relating them to: 1) the institutional dynamics between the legislative and the executive spheres at the municipal level and 2) the social perception of voters regarding the character of political activity. Through these analyses, the articles seeks to demonstrate the inseparable nature of these aspects and to question the efficiency of institutional changes as an instrument for transforming political relations.
municipal politics; city council representatives; relationships between the Legislative and Executive spheres; political clientelism