Democracy, federalism and centralization in Brazil (Democracia, federalismo e centralização no Brasil),

After the enactment of the 1988 Constitution, initial evaluations of the Brazilian federation – the Union, states and municipalities – stated that decentralization would strengthen democracy. With the initial euphoria over with, a number of criticisms emerged claiming that decentralization, on the contrary, could be a hindrance to democracy as the autonomy of states and municipalities would make coordinated actions more difficult, therefore, creating imbalances among constituent subunits.

Based on long time series and comprehensive information as empirical evidence, the political scientist Marta Arretche disagrees with both explanations and presents a new approach: the Brazilian federal system is highly centralized. This should not be confused, however, with the absence of mechanisms to stop the influence of the central government. Despite the strong presence of the central government, states and municipalities are important actors to the formulation and implementation of public policies.

“The investigation is based on the theoretical assumption that Federal States do not necessarily produce dispersed political authority”, says the author. “The main argument of the book is that, throughout the 20th century, the Brazilian federation has become highly integrated although each level of government still wields its own political authority. The process of nation-state building was directed towards the centralization of the political authority”, the author adds. The research that preceded the publication of the book analyzed two dimensions: the veto power of constituent subunits in central decision-making arenas and the autonomy of subnational governments to decide on their own public policies.