Brazil's Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), well into its second term in national office, is today heavily criticized for its conservative economic policies when only a few years ago it was celebrated for re‐invigorating the country's democracy and giving voice to its poor majority. In this essay, we discuss the role of participation in the party's politics since its inception, with a focus on the national administration. We argue that what is distinctive about the national administration is not so much the real or perceived transition of the PT to the ideological center or its economic policies per se, but the abandonment of one of the hallmarks of the PT in power: its creative forms of empowered popular participation. Even if these practices were translated to global forums, they were not translated to the national governance and this has locked the party into increasing conflict with, and isolation from, its base of support among social movements.