This article examines the use and dissemination of the concept of participation in environmental and development policies, focusing on implementation of local councils in Brazil - especially those linked to socio-environmental issues. The hypothesis advanced here is that the current use of the...

Since the last decade, there has been much debate on the central government's activism in the implementation of development policies that resemble those from Brazil's authoritarian past. However, only rarely, scholars and practitioners have discussed the state capacities that are necessary to...

This Discussion Paper presents an introductory approach to presidential governance in Brazil. The historical institutionalism framework, the comparative historical method, and the policy-focused political analysis are used in this approach which consists in highlighting the critical component of...

This paper examines the institutional arrangements that organize the arenas of formulation and implementation of development policies in Brazil, asking if such policies are setting up more democratic decision-making processes with the inclusion of a larger number of actors and at the same time...