Worth What It Costs? A Study on the Relationship between the Institutional Capacity of the Brazilian Subnational Accounts Courts and the Quality of Public Policies of their Respective States

Published 2019-06-24
Section Political Science

Authors

  • Thiago Augusto de Oliveira Marinho Ferreira

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7770/rchdcp-V10N1-art1781

Keywords:

Courts of Accounts, Institutional Capacity, Public Policy

Abstract

Control is a central political act or moment of a broader cycle of democratic representation. To ensure that representatives, once at the head of their positions, conduct themselves in the "best interests of their constituencies", there must be effective and continuous instruments of control. In Brazil, the Federal Constitution gave the Audit Courts the challenge of controlling
their public accounts. But what is the relationship between strengthening public spending control – based on a greater institutional capacity of these control bodies – and the quality of public policies offered to citizens? This article
proposes to investigate it. To do so, the research design combines descriptive and multivariate statistics to analyze an original database prepared with information obtained from different sources. In particular, the institutional capacity of the Brazilian subnational Accounts Courts is operationalized based on the following variables: budget, personnel and accounts judged to be irregular. Nevertheless, the factorial analysis is used to define the indicators related to the quality of the public health and education policies of their respective States, in 2010. Among the variables analyzed, the preliminary results suggest that the
strengthening of the control of public expenditures is positively correlated with the quality of public policies offered to citizens.

Author Biography

Thiago Augusto de Oliveira Marinho Ferreira

Pós-Graduando, em Nível de Doutorado, em Ciência Política pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (2018). Pós-Graduado, em Nível de Mestrado, em Ciência Política pela Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (2013). Pós-Graduado, em Nível de Especialização, em Direito Público pelo Instituto Cuiabano de Educação (2011). Graduado em Direito pela Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (2010). É Servidor Público Federal, integrante da Carreira dos Técnicos Administrativos em Educação, do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso - Campus São Vicente / IFMT - Campus São Vicente (2004). É também Professor de Direito no Centro Universitário UNIC (2016). Não obstante, é Advogado, membro associado da Asociación Latinoamericana de Ciencia Política (ALACIP) e da Associação Brasileira de Ciência Política (ABCP) e colaborador do Projeto Força Jovem Universal - Projeto de inclusão social que visa atender aos jovens que se encontram à margem da sociedade, por meio do esporte, do lazer e da cultura.

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