Present features of Federalism in Brazil together with recent changes are analyzed in search of dominant tendencies. Strong tensions are identified on several levels, specially (a) between the commitment regarding policies directed toward the reduction of social and regional inequalities taken by the national State during re-democratization and the exigencies of the economic policy which it adopted; (b) between the decentralization of policies and the limitation of resources as an effect of regional inequalities; (c) between the federal emphasis on the sub-national unities and the drive towards a recentralization of policies.
