Mid-Level Bureaucracy and Policy Production in the Energy Sector: A Study on the Ministry of Mines and Energy from 2003 to 2022

• Grant number: 24/13015-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Public Policies
• Principal Investigator: Pedro José Floriano Ribeiro
• Grantee: Cristiano Parra Duarte
• Supervisor: Diego Salazar Morales
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Leiden University, Campus The Hague, Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/07802-4 - Middle-level bureaucracy and policy making in the energy sector: a study on the Ministry of Mines and Energy from 2003 to 2022, BP.DR

Abstract

How does mid-level bureaucracy affect public policy production at the ministerial level? This research aims to answer this question by examining the case of the mid-level bureaucracy of the Ministry of Mines and Energy. To achieve this, the research focuses on (1) the policy preferences and (2) the social networks of this bureaucracy as explanatory variables. Methodologically, the qualitative case study collects data through semi-structured interviews with bureaucrats and analyzes the information using social network analysis. Therefore, this research fits into the research agenda that analyzes public policies as a result of bureaucratic preferences and social networks around these preferences, where bureaucrats influence the decision-making process of elected politicians with decision-making power to produce public policies.