Democracy, policy and local government

• Grant number: 01/13773-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2003 - October 31, 2007
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - State and Government
• Principal Investigator: Maria Hermínia Brandão Tavares de Almeida
• Grantee: Maria Hermínia Brandão Tavares de Almeida
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Leandro Piquet Carneiro

Abstract

This research project is a sequence of democracy, administration and local government (thematic project 97/02292-4). It aims at understanding democracy's workings at local level, focusing on the behavior of local elites and inquiring about the setting of local policies agenda and of public policies implementation. The purpose is to evaluate the importance of attitudinal and institutional variables on the local elite's decisions regarding the scope and competences of local government. The project have focus analytical axes: 1) federalism and intergovernmental relations; 2) local political systems, elites and public policies; 3) local government, society and public policies; 3) local government in comparative perspective. The research project is associated to the international cooperative research democracy and local governance. The research's empirical basis is information about a random sample of 30 Brazilian municipalities, from 50.000 to 200.000 inhabitants, for which we have: 1) survey data for 450 members of local elites (15 people in each town); 2) data bases, for each municipality, on socioeconomic issues, public finances, elections and party systems, local administration and local innovative policies. (AU)