Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The legislative success of presidential agendas in Brazil has traditionally been attributed to formal coalitions formed by the Executive. While the centrality of these coalitions is widely recognized, a key question remains: do formal governing coalitions secure sufficient votes to guarantee this success? To explore this question, the study develops a Legislative Performance Index (LPI) that measures the contribution of each party’s votes to the approval of Executive-backed bills. Drawing on data from 2,030 roll-call votes in the Chamber of Deputies spanning 1995 to 2016, the analysis reveals that presidents have consistently achieved high legislative success rates – with a 92% approval rate of their legislative agenda. However, votes from formal coalitions alone would have yielded substantially lower approval rates, at just 66%. In practice, majority governance in Brazilian presidentialism has relied heavily on support from parties outside formal coalitions, with informal coalitions playing a crucial role at various times. These findings underscore the importance of analyzing party behavior beyond formal alliances and recognizing the interplay of formal and informal coalitions in shaping legislative outcomes.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This research note introduces ENETRIX as an essential platform designed to document, monitor, and evaluate Brazil’s energy diplomacy. The platform provides users with crucial information derived from international energy agreements to which Brazil is a signatory. Developed by the Energy Security Studies Group (Gesene) within the Department of International Relations at the Federal University of Paraíba, ENETRIX serves as a strategic tool for promoting international energy cooperation. This article explores the platform’s potential as a vehicle for data diplomacy, aimed at strengthening global energy partnerships. The article also seeks to contextualize ENETRIX within broader discussions on data governance and state-managed repositories of international agreements. The analysis details the platform’s development process, architectural design, key functionalities, and the tangible impacts it has achieved thus far. Additionally, this exploration offers a critical analysis of the challenges and lessons learned throughout the platform’s implementation and ongoing operation.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract Over the past decade, the rise of the far right in Latin America has generated a substantial body of scholarship. Yet there remains a striking lack of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to account for the historical specificity of this phenomenon in the region. This article seeks to address that gap through a comparative study of the ideological profiles of the far right in Bolivia and Brazil between 2016 and 2022, focusing on their two main leaders: Luis Fernando Camacho, former governor of Santa Cruz, and Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil. To do so, we draw on a range of empirical sources as well as existing scholarship on both contexts. The choice of Bolivia and Brazil, along with the selected timeframe, reflects the fact that both countries experienced a similar political trajectory: the crisis of progressive governments, the emergence of far-right leaders, and the eventual return of progressives to power. At the same time, the Brazilian and Bolivian cases reveal significant differences, above all regarding the far right’s unequal capacity to establish hegemony. To make sense of these divergent patterns, we examine how far-right discourse engaged with distinct social, ethno-racial, and regional cleavages. Drawing on a spatial conception of the far right as discursive coalitions united against common enemies, we argue that while Camacho linked anti-Masismo to a regionalist appeal – thereby alienating the Indigenous majority and confining his base to eastern Bolivia – Bolsonaro framed anti-petismo in ways that resonated with diverse groups on a national scale.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract The complex relationships between domestic factors, the armed forces, and the international system are key to analyzing any country’s defense policy. Defense spending is the most tangible product of defense policymaking. This article delves into the intricacies of those relationships by examining the correlates of the defense burden in a pre-democratic period in Brazil, where the democratically informed guns-versus-butter trade-off was not a central concern for policymakers because there was no national mass-based political party. Leveraging an original dataset created through meticulous historiographical research and employing time series analysis techniques, we investigate the factors shaping Brazil’s military expenditures in 1822-1945. This is the first study of its kind looking into the Brazilian case for this period. Our findings indicate that political instability often led governments to increase military funding. Yet, levels of electoral democracy, greater military political power, and military-generated political crises were not systematically associated with defense spending, challenging conventional hypotheses. Finally, the article provides systematic quantitative evidence on the negative association between defense spending and Brazil’s freeriding on the US security umbrella throughout the first half of the 20th century.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the dynamics of policy advisory systems and the use of policy knowledge in contexts characterized by weak institutionalization and limited influence from Anglo-American models of policy advice, such as Brazil. We synthesize findings from a large research project carried out between 2019 and 2024, which combined two large-N surveys of Brazilian federal bureaucrats (conducted in 2019 and 2021) with six case studies across diverse policy areas. We examined the selected cases – spanning health, environment, social welfare, public security, management, and infrastructure – through document analysis and 40 in-depth interviews with policy advisers conducted in 2022, aiming to understand how bureaucrats access and apply knowledge in their work. Three main findings stand out: 01. different sources of information are relevant in the development of policy knowledge; 02. in most cases, internal sources produced by the bureaucracy itself are the most visible, with bureaucrats acting as translators, stabilizers and legitimizer of knowledge within the state apparatus; and 03. oversight bodies, such as audit offices and the judiciary, have gained growing influence by providing analyses and issuing binding recommendations. Together, these findings challenge conventional paradigms of policy advice.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This work reviews and discusses research approaches related to climate change and water resources, an essential area for the conservation of life and the environment. According to the global state of the art, there is an urgent need to expand sectoral statistical analyses of the impacts of climate change on water resources, especially in Brazil. A bibliometric method was applied, adopting a quantitative analytical approach. Active Learning Methodologies were also used, combining Artificial Intelligence for filtering with researcher analysis to assess the impact of studies addressing the interface between climate change and water management on national and international scientific production. The systematic review of the articles reveals a global trend toward recognizing the interaction between climate change and water resources. The studies analyzed indicate that water resource management must evolve toward an adaptive, sustainable, and collaborative approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative data and promoting effective governance.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This article analyzes the distinctive features of the Center of Government (CoG) under President Jair Bolsonaro, using the framework developed by Cavalcante and Batista (2018). The CoG encompasses a set of units, whether formally or informally linked to the presidential hierarchy, whose primary role is to support presidential decision-making. Our analysis draws on federal legislation that structures the Executive Branch and on Bolsonaro’s official daily schedule to trace interaction patterns and decision-making dynamics within the CoG. The findings show that, although Bolsonaro inherited the basic CoG structure from previous administrations, he diverged from his predecessors by eliminating thematic secretariats within the presidency and by prioritizing interaction with the Institutional Security Bureau over other offices. He also reoriented political coordination toward the Casa Civil, particularly from 2021 onward, when the administration intensified negotiations with political actors during the second half of his term.

Resumo em Inglês:

Abstract This article provides a review on the main arguments of the book ‘Urban Power: Democracy and Inequality in São Paulo and Johannesburg’ by Ben Bradlow, aiming to situate it in a broader contemporary discussion in the Urban Studies literature. Drawing from the premise that urban inequalities in informal settlements are the greatest challenge facing local governments today, the author asks why some cities are more effective than others at reducing inequalities in the built environment. By comparing changes in institutions and policies for the distribution of urban goods in two cities – São Paulo (Brazil) and Johannesburg (South Africa) – after each of their democratic transitions, he argues that the configuration of ‘urban power’, which happens in a dual process between ‘embeddedness’ and ‘cohesion’, is what explains the variation in responses between local governments.