The Brazilian government has promoted, since 2003, public policies for small-scale farming, adopting a "territorial approach for rural development". The creation of Citizenship Territories in 2008 is the high point of this process of institutional innovation. Creation of participatory forums, promoting a closer partnership between civil society and public authorities, allowed a "social management" of public resources of Union general budget for investment and funding projects for "territorials units", i.e. sets of municipios grouped by common identity characteristics. This study aims to analyze dynamics of social management within the Borborema, Paraiba, considering history of social dynamics that allowed the emergence of a strong social movement and the establishment of a powerful union pole. These elements show high level of "social capital" in the territory before de creation of the forum. In this sense, we can understand why, despite evident progress of participatory dynamics and its positive impact on the local sociopolitical environment, territorial practices have, however, an "institutional performance" below of expectations in relation to few investment projects effectively implemented between 2003 and 2010.