Reducing education to pure technique is to anesthetize curiosity (Freire, 1997). Neo-liberal policies privilege private interests and promote a model of education based on competition and consumerism (Harvey, 2005). This model of education perpetuates and increases inequalities. It also affects education whose priority is not to deliver learners with an immediate financial return. I claim that critical citizenship education and adult education principles have the potential to oppose the neo-liberal forces in education. Additionally, promoting a "thick" vision of democracy (Carr, 2008) underpinned in citizens' participation is a strong tool to counter neo-liberal policies. In this study, I will look into the Brazilian participatory budget initiative as a tool to promote democracy and citizenship. Finally, I will propose a theoretical framework that incorporates strong adult education principles to strengthen democracy in times of neo-liberalism.