External control and institutional drift in the First Brazilian Republic

Abstract

This research deals with the development of the federal institutions of external control during the First Brazilian Republic. This subject is scarcely explored in the literature. In general, it is addressed as a background in studies focusing on the recent history of the Federal Court of Accounts, characterized by the emergence of the New Republic (started in 1985). Such studies suggest a historical pattern in the development of federal institutions of external control, characterized by the alternation between periods of expansion and retraction of their attributions. To advance the knowledge of this historical pattern and contribute to expanding the literature on these institutions, we need a more in-depth look at the period of they were established, i.e., the First Brazilian Republic. This study suggests that the development of federal external control institutions in the First Brazilian Republic was characterized by the legal expansion of attributions from 1890 to 1892, followed by the practical abdication until 1930 by the institutional drift of the responsibility of judging the annual accounts of the government. This is a historical institutionalist study based on the analysis of primary sources.