Large-scale environmental policy change: analysis of the Brazilian reality

Abstract

The Brazilian presidential elections of 2018 brought large-scale changes in the Brazilian environmental policy subsystem. The purpose of this article is to analyze these changes through the lenses of the Advocacy Coalition Framework - ACF. First, we introduced some of the main characteristics of this subsystem, then we presented a hemerographic analysis to describe and analyze the effects of four recent shocks in this subsystem. Two of these shocks were external: (i) the election of a new political elite in power that brought a clear discourse of denial of the relevance of environmental policy and (ii) calamitous environmental events that occurred in Brazil in 2019. The other two shocks were internal: (i) the capture of key positions and resources by dominant coalition members and (ii) the rise of conflict and polarization among the coalitions in the subsystem. The results showed: (i) the rise of a hyper-adversarial environmental policy subsystem; (ii) a realignment between non-dominant coalitions in a cooperative direction; (iii) the imposition of clear barriers to negotiation; (iv) changes in the use of scientific information by more politicized discourses with a high degree of bias. The article contributes to the understanding of the processes of institutional change in environmental policy, especially in contexts of large-scale change generated by increasing electoral polarization and fierce political disputes. It also contributes to the analysis of the limits and possibilities of the ACF in the Brazilian environmental agenda.

(Falta de) controle do desmatamento na Amazônia brasileira: do fortalecimento ao desmantelamento da autoridade governamental (1999-2020)

“…Minister Salles made it clear that he considered environmental issues in Brazil to be excessively regulated, which in turn generated losses for productive activities. In addition to defending the interests of beef and soy exporters to the detriment of environmental protection, Salles was also a spokesperson for groups historically at odds with actions implemented by the ME: loggers, illegal miners and invaders of indigenous lands (CAPELARI et al, 2020).…”

Análise das coalizões de defesa no marco regulatório das organizações da sociedade civil

“…Como já visto acima, o conceito de coalizão de defesa é elemento deinidor do modelo teórico, premissa fundante e componente central do subsistema. Assim, em desenvolvimento paralelo à literatura sobre as redes de políticas públicas que ressaltam a importância das relações interpessoais para explicar o comportamento humano, o ACF pressupõe que as crenças e comportamentos dos atores de um subsistema são fruto da incorporação de uma rede de contatos e que as políticas públicas são estruturadas, em parte, pelas interações entre agentes protagonistas do subsistema (Capelari et al, 2020). Neste passo, o ACF sustenta que os participantes de um subsistema, buscando obter sucesso na deinição da política pública, aliam-se com os atores que comunguem com suas crenças, compartilham recursos e desenvolvem estratégias complementares, segundo Rodrigues, Vasconcellos Sobrinho e Vasconcellos (2020).…”

“…Neste passo, o ACF sustenta que os participantes de um subsistema, buscando obter sucesso na deinição da política pública, aliam-se com os atores que comunguem com suas crenças, compartilham recursos e desenvolvem estratégias complementares, segundo Rodrigues, Vasconcellos Sobrinho e Vasconcellos (2020). E neste ponto, o devil shift, tratado a seguir, acaba por acentuar a motivação por manter alianças e cooperação, conforme destacado por Capelari et al (2020) Note-se que a busca por aliados que partilham crenças se dará entre legisladores, servidores, líderes de grupos de interesse, juízes, pesquisadores e intelectuais com múltiplos níveis de participação governamental. Caso esta congregação produza um nível de coordenação (nontrivial coordination, no original) estará formada a coalizão de defesa.…”

Radical Reorganization of Environmental Policy: Contemporaneous Evidence from Brazil

“…Environmental policy conflicts in Brazil have historically been complex (Drummond and Barros-Platiau, 2006), mainly because of the existence of various groups trying to insert their beliefs and views on the environment into the country’s environmental agenda (Capelari et al, 2020). Drawing from the institutional literature (Mahoney and Thelen, 2009; Thelen, 2002), we suggest that Brazil’s environmental policy was shaped over time through conflicts around the distribution of resources that allowed some of these political coalitions to regulate access to and the transformation of natural resources according to their immediate interests (Guimarães, 1991).…”