Policy diffusion in subnational governments: State–local relationships in the Brazilian education policy

ABSTRACT

Intergovernmental relations play a key role in policy diffusion among constituent units. Federal governments have adopted different mechanisms to guarantee minimum standards across the countries, but historical trajectories and widely shared policy ideas are also mentioned as relevant in diffusion processes. This paper focuses on the influence of federalism in policy diffusion at the subnational level in Brazil. The 1988 Constitution consolidated decentralization of the Brazilian education policy but required cooperation between states and municipalities. The lack of a national definition resulted in a great variety of cooperative programmes and coordination arrangements, allowing the identification of similarities and differences among their diffusion processes. This article shows that state governments are the main policy-makers regarding cooperation, which highlights that the role of the federal government does not entirely explain these processes. Nevertheless, policy trajectories and the movement of ideas and people municipalities were keys for policy diffusion.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy diffusion
• education policy
• federalism
• intergovernmental relations
• decentralization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The next sections are mostly grounded in the data collected in the questionnaires and interviews. While the explanation of the four categories was based on the data collected through the questionnaires, the description of the cases relied on the data collected in the interviews, except cases in which documents were used, which is noted.

2. Interviews conducted in 2012 and 2014 in Fortaleza (Ceará) with managers from the state department.

3. Interviews conducted in 2012 and 2014 in Fortaleza (Ceará) with managers from the state department.

4. Interviews conducted in 2012 and 2014 in Fortaleza (Ceará) with managers from the state and municipal departments.

5. Interviews conducted in 2014 in Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul) with managers from the state and municipal departments.

6. Interviews conducted in 2014 in Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul) with managers from municipal departments.

7. Interviews conducted in 2014 in São Paulo (São Paulo) with managers from the state departments.

8. Interviews conducted in 2014 in Belém (Pará) with managers from municipal departments.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior.