Environmental Policy Dismantling and undoing of Bureaucratic Capacities in Brazil

Resumo

This work analyzes street-level bureaucrats’ action in the implementation of environmental policy in Brazil, taking as case studies the IBAMA inspectors and ICMBio agents, before and after the beginning of President Bolsonaro’s term. A theoretical model was developed that integrates three different analytical dimensions of street-level bureaucrats’ action: institutional, individual and relational dimensions. Based on this, a case-oriented investigation was conducted, where significant cases were selected to illustrate two different profiles of environmental agents (cross-case analysis). The information obtained was analyzed using Systematic Content Analysis (SCA). In addition, a cross-time poll was conducted on the institutional changes that occurred before and after the of Bolsonaro´s administration. The results show comparatively between IBAMA inspectors and ICMBio agents how they are articulated, with their peculiarities in each of the institutions. The changes undertaken by the Bolsonaro administration currently have led to the freezing of bureaucratic capacities, the weakening of institutions in Brazil.