Policy dynamics in democratic Brazil (1986-2016)

Abstract

This research project aims to map, monitor and analyze the input and output issues in the policy agenda over the three decades of his recent democracy (1986-2016). This research design, known by the term "policy dynamics", assumes that the policy attention is a scarce resource and, at the same time, it is a necessary tool for policy-making process. The mapping is performed by encoding some government attention indicators, which measure the frequency with which certain topics appear in the speeches, texts, laws and actions of the executive, legislative and, also, the annual authorized budget. Since it is held in a longitudinal perspective, retrieving data from thirty years of democratic history, divided into six governments, this methodology allows monitoring and comparing the priorities of governments over the years, and also allows to compare the preferences in acting the two powers (Executive and Legislative). As a result, it is expected to produce a robust analysis able to point the trajectory of different public policies in the policy agenda over time and highlight similarities and differences in the priorities of the six governments that comprise the analyzed period. This research project is linked to the Brazilian Policy Agendas Project and CAP - Comparative Agendas Project, an international project with twenty-two countries members that use the same theoretical and methodological framework for the study of the dynamics of public policies in their countries and in comparative perspective.