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Brazil

Revisiting the political-social dimension of public value

·435 字·1 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 Public Value Social Enterprises Brazil Non-State Actors Political-Social Dimension
PMR — pp. 1-25 2026-09-15 Original Revisiting the political-social dimension of public value Ana Luiza Terra Costa Mathias, Rosa Maria Fischer Abstract Public value research increasingly recognizes that societal value is generated by public, private, philanthropic, and hybrid actors. However, empirical tools for identifying public value beyond the state remain underdeveloped, particularly regarding its political-social dimension. This study operationalizes this dimension by identifying and analytically defining eight constituent elements. It draws on a multiple case study of three Brazilian social enterprises, combining document analysis, field visits, and semi-structured interviews. Findings clarify the dimension’s components and demonstrate how they can be identified in organizational practices and relationships. The study advances empirical approaches to public value and extends research to non-state actors in a non-European context.

Institutional Conversion and Digital Transformation in Local Governments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Trajectories

·911 字·2 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 Digital Government Local Government Institutional Change Brazil Longitudinal Analysis
JPART — 2026-09-09 Original Institutional Conversion and Digital Transformation in Local Governments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Trajectories Adalmir de Oliveira Gomes Abstract Abstract This article asks a central question in digital government research: why do local governments operating under similar institutional conditions follow sharply different digital transformation trajectories over time? Drawing on theories of gradual institutional change, the study conceptualizes digital transformation not as a discrete adoption outcome, but as a process of institutional conversion through which technological capacity is translated into sustained digital service provision. Information governance is theorized as the key conditioning mechanism linking technological resources to durable organizational outcomes. The analysis combines longitudinal panel models, fixed-effects estimators, and trajectory-based clustering using a panel of all Brazilian municipalities (MUNIC/IBGE; N = 5,569) across seven waves between 2004 and 2024. Results show that increases in technological capacity are associated with subsequent gains in digital services, but these effects are gradual and conditional. Information governance significantly shapes how municipalities mobilize and stabilize technological resources over time, while interaction models reveal non-linear and diminishing returns consistent with institutional coordination limits. Trajectory analyses identify four distinct patterns of digital transformation, ranging from ‘institutionalized pioneers’ to ‘persistent stagnation’, demonstrating that digital development unfolds through path-dependent and institutionally anchored trajectories rather than through simple convergence. The article contributes to public administration research in three ways: provides rare longitudinal evidence on local digital transformation over two decades; integrates institutional change theory into digital government research by conceptualizing governance as a mechanism of institutional conversion; and advances a trajectory-based explanation of digital transformation that shifts attention from episodic technological adoption to cumulative institutional processes shaping long-run administrative performance.

The Politicization of Bureaucrats: Evidence from Brazil

·502 字·2 分钟
Polihot 比较政治 公共行政 Brazil Bureaucratic Politicization Patronage Incumbency Advantage Bolsa Família
JOP 88/2 pp. 554-571 2026-04-01 Original The Politicization of Bureaucrats: Evidence from Brazil Anderson Frey, Rogerio Santarrosa Abstract In developing countries, incumbents commonly exercise political influence over bureaucrats through monitoring or patronage hiring. We investigate a new politicization channel: a phenomenon where bureaucrats join political parties while in office. First, with a regression discontinuity design and administrative data on the universe of Brazilian municipal bureaucrats, we identify an incumbency advantage in their politicization. Second, we find larger effects for a special set of bureaucrats: the ones that interviewed households for enrollment into Bolsa Família (BF). Third, we show that these effects are even stronger for interviewers highly exposed to voters and in municipalities where BF was expanded. Our findings suggest a policy-driven logic for this politicization: voter-facing bureaucrats who deliver salient policies accumulate electoral capital, which is converted into rents by joining the incumbent political networks.