Our study aims to determine the institutional profile of the Municipal Councils of Public Policy in Ribeirão Preto/SP, by analyzing the normative acts that cre- ate and regulate them and applying variables cho- sen from the recent literature on the topic. The study found that, in the history of the city, 47 councils have being created, chosen as the sample 23 of them, based on criteria that define the meaning of Council that we adopted and identify those who are working today. In the scientific literature, variables that rep- resent the characteristics that influence the effective- ness of councils were identified, divided into three categories: general characteristics, decision-making and composition/representation. The results sub- stantiate the lack of transparency regarding the func- tioning of the Councils and that the Municipal Coun- cils generally integrated in their shapes some features initially considered as essential to their effectiveness, but other recent features, identified in terms of the limitations from the previous ones are implemented in a few of them. We expect the results of this work contribute to deepening democracy within the Public Policy Councils of Ribeirão Preto.