A crise do federalismo fiscal brasileiro: uma análise institucionalista

Abstract

The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the set up, evolution and hitherto state of the Brazilian federation, according to the view of the fiscal federalism theory. In a country shaped by a federalist system, there are many diverse ways of interaction between the federal levei of govemment and the level of the member states. The traditional focuses of fiscal federalism try to reach and undermine the accountability and behavior of each member of the federalist framework, implying in a broader or a lesser extent of fiscal and financial centralization. Altematives approaches such as the institutional one try to focus on the issue through a holistic framework, applying to the subject notions such as historical, political, social, cultural end geographical peculiarities, bringing forward new concepts as opportunistic behavior, bounded rationality and co-operation. The inquiry into the Brazilian experience with the use of traditional and altemative federalist notions enrich the analysis with a better comprehension of phenomenon such as the state bidding war and present proxies to the excellence ofthe federalist framework.