Sub-nationality and the Brazilian State: the role of the subchefia de assuntos federativos from an institutional perspective

• Grant number: 13/08177-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - State and Government
• Principal Investigator: Regina Claudia Laisner
• Grantee: Beatriz Akiko Miyashiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Since the end of the conflict of the Cold War and the intensification of globalization, the international system has been permeated by relations increasingly complex and interconnected. This context is closely linked to the growing international involvement of subnational units in the international system, which are acquiring increasing space in political, economic, and social areas. A space traditionally attributed to the State, and therefore, has generated the need for new reflections. The phenomenon of the insertion of sub-nationalities in the international scene, known as paradiplomacy, is developing significantly in the conjuncture of Brazil, which makes it essential to study how is the recent sub-national dimension, especially in relation to the Brazilian State. This project aims to critically analyze this issue, guiding itself by validating the institutional mechanisms by the Brazilian government to deal with such a process. In particular, it will focus on the creation and performance of the Subchefia de Assuntos Federativos, an institutional mechanism created in 2003, whose role is to compose a space for dialogue and dynamic between federal levels. In this way, it will be able to research, covering the period from the creation of this Subchefia until the present day, if this local/central, made possible by institutional arrangements, is limiting or an impeller factor of the international role of subnational entities. (AU)