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The analysis of the state capacities is central to comprehend policy implementation and its outcomes. Even though there is a great debate on the concept of state capacities, some studies show that two dimensions of state capacity should be considered: technical-administrative and political-relational. However, few studies seek to better grasp these two dimensions at local level, as this literature was more focused on the analysis of the federal government. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the state capacity of Brazilian municipalities through a study on education policy and municipal education departments in eight municipalities. A qualitative and comparative analysis of data collected through in-depth interviews and observation points out that both dimensions - technical-bureaucratic and political-relational - are fragile at municipal level. Nevertheless, the departments' autonomy and the leadership of managers, as well as the relationship between departments and schools, explain the differences in the implementation and outcomes of the educational policy in the municipalities analyzed.

Nesta edição, temos o prazer de compartilhar trabalhos que trazem autores iberoamericanos, dentro do processo de internacionalização da Cadernos Gestão Pública e Cidadania. E o embrião deste trabalho iniciou no fim de 2019, quando fui convidado (ou convocado) pela nossa querida editora-chefe, professora Andréa Leite Rodrigues, para organizar um Fórum Especial GIGAPP, dada a minha participação como membro, coordenador de grupo de trabalho e frequentador assíduo de seus congressos desde o ano de 2014.

In the context of a pandemic caused by the new Coronavirus, governments have adopted measures to prevent and combat Covid-19. In this scenario, several social actors made contributions to the fight against the disease. Among these actions, the measures adopted by Brazilian public universities can be highlighted. The various internal and external actions carried out by higher education institutions demonstrate the importance of universities in crisis management, since the scientific knowledge produced has become the main foundation for the coping strategies implemented by state and municipal governments in Brazil. Given the above, the present study aimed to understand the performance of public universities in Brazil in the context of a pandemic caused by Covid-19, with emphasis on the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), due to its intense performance, support and, mainly, partnerships established with the state government. Methodologically, bibliographic research procedures and the survey and systematization of actions by federal public universities and, specifically, UFRN, were adopted. The results show that, based on the relationship established between the state government of Rio Grande do Norte and UFRN, there are indications of elements that can contribute to the establishment of collaborative governance. 

The present study sought to identify the performance of the sustainability dimensions that make up the triple bottom line, comparing the municipalities with the best position in the Sanitation Ranking 2018, elaborated by the Trata Brasil Institute, with the municipalities that occupy the last positions of this ranking. The study allowed the analysis and comparison of results from the perspective of the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. The research used the documentary method, which can be characterized as descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The most significant results were observed in the social and economic dimensions: the better the situation in the universalization of treated water, sewage collection and treatment, the better the results in terms of health, education and economic development. Regarding the environmental dimension, in all the municipalities studied the theme was incorporated into the institutional structure of the public entity, with the creation of an administrative structure and specific legislation.

The aim of this article is to analyze the Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 32/2020, both quantitatively and qualitatively. To undertake the analysis, first we review the literature on Public Administration reforms, while contextualizing the proposal accordingly in the Brazilian history of administrative reforms. Second, we undertake a two-step analysis of PEC 32/2020’s contents: the first consists in a systematic content analysis based on word counting, according to categories of public management policies and design of programmatic organizations. The second step consists of the qualitative analysis of the proposed changes to the constitutional principles of Public Administration and human resources management (competition, stability, commission charges, and performance). The results of the analysis show that, by dedicating more than half (53%) of the total content and 74% of its effective content (substantive provisions) to work issues of public servants, the proposal (PEC 32/2020) would be better labelled as a “civil service reform,” and not as an “administrative reform.” Regarding the new proposed constitutional principles, there is redundancy between them, especially linked to the fundamental right to good governance. Finally, we reiterate the timeliness and relevance of the discussion about the hiring process of public employees, tenure and stability for employees, appointed positions, and performance evaluation, as long as they are aligned with the ethical and constitutional principles of public service as a societal value, institutionalized to the legal system and continuously responding to the population’s welfare needs.

This article uses the Newcomb-Benford(NB-Law), or Law of Anomalous Numbers, to analyze the values of Electronic Bidding Processes that occurred in the Purchasing Portal of the Brazilian Federal Government and contained in the newly created website "DadosAbertos.gov.br". In the analysis, all services contracted in the period from 2014 to 2018 were considered. The objective of the research was to analyze the conformity of the Electronic Auction referred to the NB-Law, aiming to verify anomalies, which represent signs of fraud. It can be said that there was a statistically significant anomaly in the analysis of the first digit of the values bid in the Electronic Bidding Tenders. It is also noted that the trading sessions with the first digit of numbers 4, 8 and 9 are those with the largest differences between expected and observed values, strengthening the hypothesis that these represent the trading sessions with the highest incidence / probability of deviations, to be tested in future studies. The study, pioneer in this type of analysis in the Brazilian data source, aims to contribute to the literature focused on the detection of accounting or financial fraud in the public sector. The results collected here can also contribute to the practice of inspection in public management. It is recommended to deepen the studies based on the Economics of Corruption, on issues that involve the detection of fraud, so that corruption becomes unviable or inopportune.

This article aims to analyze and describe the existing Local Integrity System (LIS) in a sample of Brazilian’ small cities, emphasizing the internal actors of the executive power, and the practical operation of the checks and balances mechanisms coordinated by them (activities and outputs), from an institutional perspective with five dimensions: the existence and enforcement of the rules, and the existence, capacity and autonomy of the institutions. Three actors were selected: the internal control and audit sector, the ombudsman, and the internal affairs and administrative sanction sector. Statistical analysis was applied on data from 282 municipalities with up to 100,000 inhabitants of the State of Santa Catarina. The findings have confirmed recent studies, that LIS in little cities has extremely fragile internal institutions, if not nonexistent. Where there is, the actors have no enforcement, autonomy or capacity to implement the mechanisms necessary for the anti-corruption cycle. Integrity systems can be imposed on local governments by the central government, or by external pressure, such as from the OECD, in which Brazil has tried to be accepted as a member, which may be a path for the Brazilian case.

This article aims to synthesize the results of an exploratory and descriptive analysis of social observatories. This research was conducted to support a social observatory of inequalities, created in a Brazilian public university. We understand social observatories as mechanisms that produce, diffuse, and “translate” information, contributing to social participation and control. Therefore, they are also able to contribute to improving public action, including those towards inequalities. Drawing on articles and document analysis, the research embraced two stages. Firstly, we built an overview of scientific production on social observatories in Brazil, based on a systematic review of 23 scientific articles, indexed to SciELO and Spell (2010-2020). Secondly, we researched 56 observatories, mainly Brazilians. As main results, first, the inexistence or incipience of a research agenda on the theme was identified. Through the analysis of experiences, we described the following structural elements: 1) themes and types; 2) origin, partnerships, and financing; 3) objectives, expected results, and products. Concerning the best practices, the highlights were: 1) production and dissemination of information (e.g., indicators and monitoring methodologies); 2) “translation” of information into popular and citizen language; 3) building and consolidating networks (including participatory governance strategies). The research on the cases confirms what the literature highlights about social observatories: they work as tools to participation and social control, regardless of origin, partnerships, types, themes, and objectives.

This paper analyzes the salary elite among Brazilian federal civil servants. We comprehend salary elites as the occupations with the highest salaries in the state. First, using data from Annual Social Inform (Rais), we identified the top income occupations for all Brazilian civil service in 2018, analyzing its main characteristics, such as predominant branches and spheres of government. Next, using two different criteria, the income median of the judiciary branch and the salary of a member of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) in 2018, we verified the recent salary history of the highest income part of Brazilian federal civil servants in the last 20 years. We focused on the study of the so called “supersalários” (supersalaries), i.e., salaries that are higher than the salary of a member of the STF. Despite being the executive branch the one with most employees, we show that the judiciary branch is the one paying the highest salaries. Besides, we conclude that the amount of supersalaries is lower than expected in the federal sphere, even though it is still relevant for public budget. Finally, we compared the findings to the Proposal of Constitutional Amendment (PEC) 32/2020, suggesting ways of building an administrative reform that is more efficient towards fighting privileges in the public civil service.

Exploratory jurisprudential research of the decisions of the São Paulo Court of Justice (TJ-SP) between July 2019 and July 2020 reveals the main current legal controversies over the municipal and state public agents hired throughout fixed-term contracts, i.e., temporary civil servants (cf., Brazilian Federal Constitution, art. 37, IX). The research shows the difference in the legal rights granted to civil servants who are statutory and "celetistas" (in the Portuguese acronym), on one side, and temporary agents, on the other, generating tension between them. It suggests that reducing the fixed-term contracts precariousness should be an objective of the Administrative Reform. It also shows that even though the Judiciary is sensitive to the need for flexibility in public human resources management, the Court strives to prevent the fixed-term contracts' uncontrolled expansion, to avoid the devaluation of the public tender institute in the hiring processes of public agents.

The article addresses the role of the Judiciary in the context of fiscal policies during crisis, under an administrative reform. It seeks to test the applicability of the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and to contribute to the understanding of the judicialization of public policy. The methodology adopted was qualitative, bibliographic and documentary research, through a case study that aims to understand the performance of the Portuguese Constitutional Court from 2010 to 2014, in controlling the constitutionality workers’ wages in the public sector. Such measures were taken during the agreement between Portugal and the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The jurisprudence of crisis was developed in degrees of permissibility with the legislator and culminates with the punctuation and change of the initial policy. In their content, the judgments adopted the technique of balance of principles, whose inherent subjectivity leaves room for a change in policy. It is concluded that the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory has explanatory potential for understanding the participation of the Judiciary in public policy in times of crisis, and its application should be tested by future research, considering other moments of rupture.

The article aims to analyse the impacts of the Administrative Reform embodied in the Proposal for Constitutional Amendment 32/2020 about the stability of public sector workers, in view of the contracting forms’ amplification foreseen by the reform. From the methodological point of view, our analysis is based on data from the Atlas do Estado Brasileiro, atlas produced by the Institute for Applied Economic Research – IPEA, qualitative empirical survey conducted among professors of the public education, and bibliographic review about the theme. We point out to a flexibilization process of the contracting forms in the Brazilian public sector, characterized by the increase in hiring of workers with unstable and precarious employment conditions, notably the temporary and outsourced ones. This precariousness’ process of work relationships, also observed in the private sector, is related to important political and economic transformations that occurred in Brazil since the 1990s, affecting the role of the State and, consequently, also public servants. We concluded that the presented Administrative Reform tends to intensify the process of flexibilization and precariousness of work relationships already conducted in the public sector, putting at risk not only the servants’ stability, but the democratic and republican State rule of law itself, which must be based on isonomy, equality and respect to public affairs.

The study aims to contribute to the discussion about the State in the 21st century by pointing to some critical features of public bureaucracy that deserve more empirical research to provide evidence to support proposals for administrative reform in developing countries. Applying multivariate analysis techniques to available datasets, it is verified whether the institutional characteristics of the Brazilian bureaucracy challenged by PEC 32/2020 - recruitment by competitive public examination, the professionalization of senior positions, the existence of a special work regime for civil servants, and the adoption of attractive salaries - are associated with international performance indicators of public administration. The findings corroborate the theoretical arguments that, in addition to attractive salaries and recruitment by competitive public examinations, a special work regime with career stability for civil servants has significant relationships with  reduction of corruption and improvement of public governance in the group of developing countries. That is because the risks in these countries of patronage practices are greater when compared to developed countries with well-established bureaucracies.

This paper aims to analyze the occupational profile’s pathway in the executive power in Brazil at federal, state and municipal levels between 2003 and 2018. The amount of working contracts in the executive increased 42% in this interval, although presenting heterogeneities among federative levels and the degree of specialization of integrated servants. Previous studies have made temporal analysis on civil service to show State’s transformations in political and sociological aspects. This paper seeks to contribute to the comprehension of what the State does, the human resources available, and how it has been changing in the past years. In this regard, data from Annual Relation of Social Information, RAIS, was analyzed about major groups, and the categories that expanded and shrunk most in this period. Results suggest a process of modernization of Brazilian state that dialogues with its attributions after the 1988 Federal Constitution, in spite of remarkable differences between the federative levels.

This paper aims to discuss HR management in the public health sector in Brazil during the third decade of the 21st century. Current literature was studied in order to design a guide for interviews to be applied to public managers, from central and local levels, under direct management or social organizations, who agreed to be part of this research. Interview findings were discussed and analyzed, but they were not compared to the results of the organizations. The conclusion of the paper brings out the relevance of HR management in health and the difference between instruments available at the direct management and at the health social organization.

The article aims to analyze the perceptions of civil servants regarding the structuring factors of work organization for innovation in the public sector. Theoretical support indicates that work organization practices are linked to the aspects underlying the innovations. Although there is an expectation for greater autonomy and flexibility that contribute to innovations, the formalization of work persists in public organizations. Qualitative and descriptive research was carried out, through the study of multiple cases in sectors that work directly with innovations and in people management units, responsible for rethinking ways of structuring work at federal and state levels. Work organization was broken down into structuring factors, selected after literature review, documental survey, and content analysis. The perceptions of these factors were captured in semi-structured interviews with open-ended and close-ended questions, the latter linked to the numerical representations of these factors for 14 interviewees. The findings indicated that factors such as interdisciplinary teams and networks reflected as good practices for innovation, while autonomy, flexibility and telework are emerging. The organizational mobility factor faces legal and managerial restrictions. It was also found that the lack of resources encourages the search for viable and creative alternatives. This research contributes theoretically to portray structuring factors of work organization linked to strategic people management actions as incentives to innovations in the public sector. Empirically it reveals the adjustments in the organization of work aimed at innovation as adaptation to the context. Work organization becomes an imperative demand in the dynamics of innovation in public administration.

The objective of this work was to analyze activities and results of the innovation process in the public sector in the light of the ALICE robot case. The framework used to analyze innovation was the Integrated Model of Innovative Public Management (GESPUBLIN), proposed by Isidro (2018), considered as the best strategy to access the phenomenon as a whole, since it enabled the analysis of the innovation process from its creation to its results. GESPUBLIN has four dimensions: Environment, Capabilities, Activities and Results, and this study sought to analyze the dimensions, as well as simultaneously discuss its applicability and its level of efficiency. Data were collected through interviews, focus groups, documents and literature. Thus, it is considered field research, since the empirical investigation was conducted at the location where the innovative phenomena occurred. The data analysis of this research was based on the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2016). The results show, in general, that innovation occurred mainly to introduce a new product to solve problems in processes and services of the analyzed public organization. It is concluded that the GESPUBLIN model was essentially well adapted to the analysis of the Alice robot case, and its applicability should be encouraged in similar models, in order to make the innovation process in public administration clearer and more concise, optimizing the public sector in this very complex sphere.

This article seeks to analyze key points of the criminal policy carried out by the Brazilian Federal Government in the decade following the enactment of the 1988 Constitution, to study the possible relations between such policies and the process of neoliberal transition occurred in the country during this period. In this way, it seeks to contribute with the discussion regarding the tensions between the aspirations of the implementation of the rights provided in the Constitution’s text and the excluding reality of neoliberal reforms. Based both on Marxist and Foucauldian readings of neoliberalism, the article points out that there was an “active redefinition” (Dagnino, 2004) of concepts like “citizenship” and “human rights” and that these concepts were used by the government to enable the strengthening of repressive measures. Based on that, the article also seeks to contribute with the debate regarding the “de-democratization” (Brown, 2015) process triggered by the spread of a neoliberal reason throughout different social spheres, and the debate regarding the convergences between neoliberalism and the strengthening of punishment and social control mechanisms.

This article aims to analyse the freedom-government relationship through the discourses and governmental measures implemented in Brazil and Argentina on the occasion of COVID-19. It considers two variables that became relevant as the pandemic developed: 1) the dichotomy between “economy” and “health”, and 2) the national/federal, provincial/state and municipal levels of government as scenarios in the fight against the pandemic –analyzing the specific cases of São Paulo and Buenos Aires. The objective is to understand the experiences of Brazil and Argentina based on the knowledge, calculations and government techniques implemented to guarantee the difficult and fragile balance between individual freedom and common security. The period of study is focused on the year of 2020. In this way, it is expected that it will contribute to the analysis of the responses that both countries have given during the first year of the pandemic from the perspective of governmental practices and discourses.

This article aims to analyze the imbrication involving democracy, neoliberalism and criminal policy in Brazil. Using an approach from below, we seek to present the ways in which the process of Brazilian democratization and the mobilizations for citizenship in contemporary Brazil were built in hybridizations between different political rationalities: neoliberal, social-democratic and criminalizing. Taking as object the struggles for the criminalization of LGBTphobia in Brazil, the pro-criminalization discourse is analyzed in order to outline the constituent elements of a punitive citizenship in Brazil. In this model of citizenship, the penal system is normalized as fundamental to democracy and punishment starts to occupy a central place in both public policies and demands for citizenship, eclipsing other horizons of democracy.