info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Centralization: still a conspicuous variable in Brazilian society
Centralización: todavía una variable visible en la sociedad brasileña;
Centralização: ainda uma variável conspícua na sociedade brasileira
Autor
Silva, Paulo Viera da
Institución
Resumen
In the formative process of Brazilian social and political institutions, centralization is a variable embedded in the Portuguese experience of government. The objective of this study was to present a few rudiments for appraising the de-centralization principle in the federal public administration. The propensity of Brazilian society towards centralization is supported by some-political and cultural factors, already detected by the theorists of our realities: a framework of patronage, State capitalism in the economic sphere and authoritarianism as concerns the social and political scenery. Centralization has been strengthened by a lack of participation in the governmental decision-marking, while public administration develops a pattern of welfare State, keeping itself remote from the implementation of governmental guidelines. De-centralization may be looked upon as an attribute of federalism, with which it blends, as well as a process of distribution of tasks and responsibilities. The evolution of the contemporary State has shown as one of its facets a tendency towards centralization, even in cases of federative republics, a circumstance which enables the Brazilian government to more comfortably examining the convenience of the adoption of de-centralization as a principle of public management. De-centralization has been suggested as a component of administrative reforms through the influence of the American scholars who provided the formative basis for the first Brazilian technicians to be trained in the USA. It is not a device with roots in the Brazilian culture but it is, nonetheless, constant1y suggested by reform commissions officially established, including the one operating now. It remains to be seen what will be the mechanisms the commission will propose to alleviate social and cultural variables of a more significant influence upon the dynamics of Brazilian administration: authoritarianism, centralism and patronage. Na formação sócio-política brasileira, a centralização destaca-se como um dos fatores mais evidentes. Tem estado presente no cenário sócio-político da vida nacional desde antes mesmo de seus primórdios. Remonta ao desmantelamento do sistema feudal na península ibérica, a partir do século XIV, perpassa a vida portuguesa no seu período de esplendor e decadência, estende-se ao panorama da colônia brasileira e chega até os nossos dias. E tem tudo para continuar impávida a sua presença entre nós pelos tempos afora.