ABSTRACT   This paper reflects on the concept of democracy based on assumptions, which are also conceptual, such as information, accountability and social control, and it checks whether such characteristics of the democratic system are present or not in the specific public policies (social/environmental) in the Billings and Guarapiranga reservoir region in Sao Paulo. For such, it analyzes social indicators (in the context of available information) in these regions, as well as actions by the Growth Acceleration Program's (PAC) Public Resources Observatory, a project coordinated by the Public Administration and Government Studies Center of the Getulio Vargas Foundation of Sao Paulo (Ceapg/FGV-Eaesp). It concludes that the Brazilian state remains opaque before the demands for transparency and social control, consequently becoming little accountable despite the advances obtained since the country's redemocratization.   KEY WORDS:  Democracy, Accountability, Social Control, Public Policies, Social-Environmental Actions.