Centralizing Decentralized Governance in Brazil

Jessica A. J. Rich and Eduardo J. Gómez

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2012, vol. 42, issue 4, 636-661

Abstract: Contrary to the once-popular notion of the central bureaucracy withering away as an outcome of decentralization, scholars have shown that in cases of local policy success, national bureaucrats have instead redefined their roles, strengthening their focus on monitoring and accountability. Yet building national capacity for effective oversight presents a challenge within a context of strong subnational autonomy such as Brazil. Comparing the dynamics of decentralization across two areas of health policy, AIDS and tuberculosis, this article presents one strategy utilized by federal bureaucrats to increase their regulatory capacity: seeking resources located outside the formal political arena. Specifically, national bureaucrats utilize international resources to mobilize local civic groups as policy watchdogs, thus increasing the accountability of subnational politicians both to the center and to the public. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/publius/pjs002 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:publus:v:42:y:2012:i:4:p:636-661

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Publius: The Journal of Federalism is currently edited by Paul Nolette and Philip Rocco

More articles in Publius: The Journal of Federalism from CSF Associates Inc. Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().