Public governance and democracy: the role of Brazil’s office of the comptroller general in the promotion of social accountability

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the performance of Brazil’s Office Comptroller General (cgu) in the Bolsonaro Government concerning encouraging social accountability, as well as identifying the prospects for building democratic processes with civil society based on the new structure of the cgu, which has been changed since the beginning of the new Lula Government. In this sense, we also study three civil society organizations that have been working in partnership with the cgu, such as the Instituto de Fiscalização e Controle (ifc), the Observatório Social do Brasil (osb), and the Amigos Associados de Ribeirão Bonito (Amarribo). Furthermore, we use a qualitative methodology based on document analysis, literature review, and interviews with cgu bureaucrats and representatives of civil society organizations. Despite the progress, there are challenges generated by structural problems, funding difficulties, and the disarticulation of network actions, which has been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the dismantling of policies generated by the previous government. However, since 2023, cgu, with a new institutional structure, has been working to get closer to civil society, looking for ways and strategies to stimulate social accountability.