Policy Making Latin American Public Policy Review

Federalism in Current Proposals for Reform of the Brazilian State

Authors
Keywords:
Federalism, State capacity, Administrative reform, Public management
Abstract
Starting from the recent context of debates on Administrative Reform taking place in the National Congress, and the drafting of the General Public Management Law, prepared by a commission of experts and currently under discussion by the federal government, this article analyzes the role of federalism in contemporary proposals for reforming the Brazilian state, focusing on the challenges of intergovernmental coordination and inequalities in state capacities among subnational entities, especially municipalities. Both reform proposals are guided by the goal of making the state more effective in responding to societal demands. However, this objective will not be achieved as long as it remains restricted to functions exercised by the federal level. State reform must, above all, encompass the state as it is experienced in citizens' daily lives at the local level, where public policies and essential services are implemented. Given the increasing responsibilities assigned to municipalities and the inequalities in their capacities to respond to social demands, the article discusses how federalism is addressed in both instruments. It concludes that, although the proposal for the new General Public Management Law advances by explicitly recognizing inequalities in subnational capacities and by assigning the Union a more active role in technical assistance and the promotion of intergovernmental equity, the Administrative Reform proposal under debate in Congress adopts a predominantly restrictive approach, centered on limiting the municipal apparatus, which may exacerbate capacity inequalities and deepen challenges faced by municipalities.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Cover Image
Downloads
Published
2026-04-15
Issue
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)
Section
Expertos
License

Todos os conteúdos publicados nesta revista estão licenciados sob a Creative Commons – Atribuição-NãoComercial-SemDerivações 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Você tem o direito de compartilhar, copiar e redistribuir o material em qualquer meio ou formato, desde que respeite as seguintes condições:

  • Atribuição: É obrigatório dar crédito adequado ao(s) autor(es), inserir um link para a licença e indicar eventuais modificações, sem sugerir aprovação do licenciante.

  • NãoComercial: O uso do material protegido não pode visar objetivos comerciais.

  • SemDerivações: Não é permitido remixar, transformar ou criar trabalhos derivados a partir do conteúdo publicado, nem distribuir versões modificadas.

Não é permitido adicionar restrições legais ou tecnológicas que impeçam outros de exercerem direitos concedidos por esta licença.
Para mais detalhes e o texto completo da licença, acesse: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.pt-br.

How to Cite

Benedetti, E. (2026). Federalism in Current Proposals for Reform of the Brazilian State. Policy Making – Latin American Public Policy Review, 1(1), 80-90. https://policymaking.lat/ojs/index.php/pmla/article/view/9

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.