This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of variations in subnational policies and the factors that explain them. Some studies attribute these differences to the uneven distribution of state infrastructure and capacity at the subnational level, while others emphasize the role of policy legacies, actors, ideology, ideas, and networks to explain subnational policy variations. This study, analyses variations in policy changes in secondary education across Brazilian states and the factors that influenced them through a qualitative and comparative approach […]

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s aim to turn Brazil into a global environmental leader has faced three different challenges: conceptual, economic, and political-institutional tensions. In this article, we discuss and analyze how the concept of climate justice, the old tension between development and environmental protection, and the relationship with the Congress and social movements have been reconfigured in Lula’s third term in office. We discuss these tensions in light of Brazil’s environmental history and of the perception of important […]

This study examines Brazilian female legislators’ perceptions of gendered political violence by analyzing responses from 61 female federal deputies and 12 female senators (representing 81% of female legislators in office during the 56th legislature) to a self-administered questionnaire on the subject. The data indicate that gendered political violence affects a significant majority of these legislators, with 81% of respondents reporting firsthand experiences. For 90% of the interviewees, this violence discourages women from participating in politics, and according to 78%, it […]

The primary goal of this article is to examine the dynamics of changes in expenditure allocation in Brazil’s federal budget over the past two decades, highlighting periods of incrementalism and punctuation based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET). To achieve this, a database of the approved federal budget from 2000 to 2021 was created, with budget classifications coded into 21 policy domains following the methodology of the Comparative Agendas Project (CAP). Descriptive analyses of the […]

This article aims to look into the thought of jurist Alberto Pasqualini as part of the early stages of organization of the ideology of ‘trabalhismo’, which appears in the author’s work as a political theology. This doctrine emerged as the foundation of Getúlio Vargas’s Estado Novo and had to adapt to the democratic regime of the 1946 Republic. We argue that Alberto Pasqualini played a fundamental in this endeavor. He acted both as a theorist of ‘trabalhismo’ and as one […]

Machiavelli’s republicanism is grounded on two primary aspirations: the preservation of freedom within republics and the expansion of their territories. However, these goals are not indefinitely compatible, as an imperialist foreign policy ultimately undermines a free way of life. An influential understanding of Machiavelli’s ‘republican dilemma’ suggests that he unequivocally prioritized imperial expansion over preserving freedom when these ends collided. This interpretation points to Machiavelli’s endorsement of the Roman model, which sacrificed its own freedom to expand its dominion over […]

This article examines the effect of democratic attitudes on voting in 2022. Our hypothesis is that the rising prominence of the topic of democracy in politics and in the public debate, starting in 2013 and becoming more pronounced after 2018, resulted in a division of the electorate into two camps based on their varying degrees of support for democratic principles — something not observed in earlier elections. To test this hypothesis, we utilized two surveys: the 2010 AmericasBarometer and the […]

This article examines the changes in the profiles of candidates associated with the Federal Police over five elections for the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil, from 2002 to 2018, as well as the variations in their campaign discourses. To achieve this, the candidates were mapped using data from the Superior Electoral Court and other accessible sources. Campaign material available on the Internet was also collected. The data show that, in addition to the increase in the number of candidates linked […]

What motivates voters to support candidates with backgrounds in public security for Brazil’s National Congress, the so-called Law & Order (L&O) politicians? The 2018 elections witnessed a surge in parliamentarians from police and military backgrounds and the election of a president closely aligned with this agenda. We explore whether this trend correlates with municipal-level violence indicators and the presence of municipal capacity in the security sector, employing various regression models that account for socioeconomic, demographic, political, and geographic factors. Our […]

This study offers a comprehensive analysis of how governance capacities in developing countries respond to the challenges that COVID-19 posed. We established a theoretical framework to delve into the multifaceted nature of governance capacities, exploring two distinct aspects of governance: the Weberian one, which focuses on material and organizational capacities, and the Tocquevillian one, which focuses on coordination and associational capacities. We examined these four governance dimensions to illustrate how these distinct skills influence the effectiveness of governance. Our analysis […]

A growing body of literature suggests that the platformization of the public sphere is eroding the public debate, thus potentially leading to the fragmentation of the public sphere. While there exists mounting evidences supporting this perspective there also exists a substantial body of literature that suggests otherwise. Within this realm of mixed evidence, studies on climate change visibility play a prominent role, presenting findings that both weaken and reinforce the fragmentation hypothesis. To investigate this matter in a context conducive […]

The article examines the relationship between victimization, fear of crime, and democratic legitimacy in Latin America, considering both the causal mechanisms and contextual effects involved in this process. Fear of crime and victimization are regarded as distinct (yet interconnected) phenomena, each potentially operating through different causal mechanisms. Democratic legitimacy is understood from a multidimensional perspective. The hypotheses consider country-level contextual factors and are tested using multilevel analysis, based on data from the 2016 and 2018 Americas Barometer. The findings underscore […]