Abstract Research on subnational policy decision-making has revealed important institutional differences across Brazilian states. Yet these dynamics remain relatively understudied in Brazilian political science, where several federative units continue to be underrepresented. This research note examines Executive–Legislative relations in the state of Acre through the lens of theoretical typologies of interbranch interaction. The analysis covers 3,052 bills introduced between 2007 and 2022 across four legislative terms. Random-effects logistic regression models (GLMMs) are used to estimate the factors associated with bill […]

Abstract Although women constitute the majority of the Brazilian electorate, they remain underrepresented in party leadership positions, a pattern that the literature attributes in large part to the role of political parties in reproducing these inequalities. This article examines whether a glass ceiling exists in state-level party leadership in Brazil by testing three hypotheses: H1. in parties with stronger electoral performance, the likelihood that women hold leadership positions is lower; H2. more powerful positions have lower female representation; and H3. […]

Abstract The intensification of climate change-related risks to port infrastructure presents an unprecedented challenge for global logistics systems, particularly in trade corridors linked to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Given the BRI’s extensive reach and influence, this article examines how key ports along the maritime route, including Djibouti, Gwadar, Hambantota, Piraeus, Mombasa, and, more recently, Chancay in Peru, have responded to climate vulnerabilities and adopted adaptive strategies. The central hypothesis is that these ports, due to their strategic relevance […]

Abstract This article analyzes the political dynamics and strategies of the hegemonic coalition advocating for the interests of Brazil’s plastics value chain. This is a central issue in global debates on the causes of environmental crises and climate change. More specifically, the article examines this coalition’s strategies, tactics, and narratives, using the pattern identified across 15 countries on five continents in the Changing Markets Foundation’s report ‘Talking Trash’ as a reference. This qualitative study draws on secondary data from government […]

Abstract The People’s Republic of China (PRC) military footprint is expanding globally, and one of the most notable examples of its contribution to international security is its involvement in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. By examining Chinese deployments to these missions, this article seeks to contribute to understanding the political economy of China’s expanding global military presence. Is China a responsible power or a self-interested, resource-seeking actor in the peacekeeping regime? Relying on an original dataset, the article presents an […]

Abstract Brazilian municipalities simultaneously function as local administrative units, service providers, electoral districts, and the primary units for aggregating statistical, fiscal, and demographic data. Although their heterogeneity is widely acknowledged, the underlying structure of this heterogeneity is rarely examined. In this article, we argue that this heterogeneity should be understood as discrete, rather than as continuous variations of a single territorial form, and we propose a typology to explore these differences. The typology is derived from cluster analysis of Brazilian […]

Abstract Although research on gender inequality in political representation often focuses on issues such as institutional constraints, the role of political parties, campaign costs, or shortcomings in the design of gender quotas, fewer studies examine women’s political careers directly. This article analyzes women’s political careers beginning at the city council level, the most accessible and available elected office in the Brazilian political system. To do so, we conduct a long-term analysis (2002–2020) of the prior and subsequent electoral trajectories of […]

Abstract The objective of this article is to examine the participation of union actors in the legislative decision-making process related to the social security reform enacted under the Bolsonaro administration (2019–2022), with particular attention to the role of the trade union caucus – comprising both deputies and senators – in the legislative consideration of Constitutional Amendment Bill N° 06 of 2019 (PEC 06/2019). The central research question guiding the study was: how did the union caucus act to defend workers’ […]

Abstract In 2020, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), women saw an increase in their participation in the electoral race for municipal legislatures. Similarly, the number of self-declared Black candidates also rose. Yet despite higher participation among both groups, and even with the support of affirmative action policies in that election cycle, we still observe a persistent pattern of underrepresentation of Black women. Existing scholarship shows that several variables shape the electoral participation of minoritized groups. Drawing […]

Abstract Over the past decade, the rise of the far right in Latin America has generated a substantial body of scholarship. Yet there remains a striking lack of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to account for the historical specificity of this phenomenon in the region. This article seeks to address that gap through a comparative study of the ideological profiles of the far right in Bolivia and Brazil between 2016 and 2022, focusing on their two main leaders: Luis Fernando Camacho, […]

Abstract The complex relationships between domestic factors, the armed forces, and the international system are key to analyzing any country’s defense policy. Defense spending is the most tangible product of defense policymaking. This article delves into the intricacies of those relationships by examining the correlates of the defense burden in a pre-democratic period in Brazil, where the democratically informed guns-versus-butter trade-off was not a central concern for policymakers because there was no national mass-based political party. Leveraging an original dataset […]

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the dynamics of policy advisory systems and the use of policy knowledge in contexts characterized by weak institutionalization and limited influence from Anglo-American models of policy advice, such as Brazil. We synthesize findings from a large research project carried out between 2019 and 2024, which combined two large-N surveys of Brazilian federal bureaucrats (conducted in 2019 and 2021) with six case studies across diverse policy areas. We examined the selected cases – spanning health, […]