The Brazilian Fiscal Responsibility Law: Cultural and Structural Changes of State Management

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the changes of state management in Brazil promoted by the Fiscal Responsibility Law (FRL). Sanctioned on May 4 th , 2000 as the outcome of a long process of maturation of Brazilian public management resulting from the joint effort of both government and society, the FRL has since then guided the state bureaucracy as well as the citizenry in regard to monitoring and supervising public expenditure. As the catalyst of a shift in the traditional patrimonialism inherent to the Brazilian culture of public management, the aforementioned law has delivered good results in the management of public resources despite some backlashes experienced during its effectiveness. As it stands, it is our conviction that the current economic crisis in the country bears a direct relationship with the neglect of the FRL by the last governments. Ultimately, we maintain that the institutional settings of the more recent crises in Brazil, from the 1980s and 1990s to the present, as well as of the current crisis in Europe, do not call into question the efficiency of international covenants on fiscal adjustment, but rather the laxity in their making.