The politics of patronage appointments in Brazil

• Grant number: 16/50201-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2016
• End date: November 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - State and Government
• Agreement: London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE
• Mobility Program: SPRINT - Projetos de pesquisa - Mobilidade
• Principal Investigator: George Avelino Filho
• Grantee: George Avelino Filho
• Principal researcher abroad: Francisco Panizza
• Institution abroad: University of London, England
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/15658-1 - Subnational political institutions: a comparative study of Brazilian States, AP.TEM

Abstract

Brazil is widely regarded as a country in which the tension between bureaucrats and politicians illustrates the dilemmas of building coalitions, managing state-owned enterprises and providing basic services of social and infrastructure policy. Patronage appointments are at the heart of this tension. As several scholars have noted, they can be doled out according to different criteria, such as cementing governing coalitions or as part of a complex incentive scheme to make bureaucrats work according to presidential directives. The goals of this project - which is part of a wider research project on the politics of patronage appointments and the quality of public administration in Latin America - are twofold. The first is to explore the linkage between presidential powers, party systems and the politics of patronage appointment. The second goal of the project is to explore the impact of political appointments in the quality of public administration. (AU)