Porto Alegre has become the symbol of the implementation of participatory budgeting in Latin America. Beyond this particular case, there have been further experiences of participatory democracy in the region. The reflection undertaken here links the diffusion of these experiences and the evolution in the way in which social sciences research has studied participatory democracy. The implementation and diffusion of the Porto Alegre experience is the starting point. The institutionalist perspective in comparative analysis of participatory democracy is discussed. The paper ends with the presentation of some recent works in which experiences are analyzed in both localized and contextualized focus.