This study aims to describe and analyze the perception of public mangers from one of the regions of Santa Catarina State (Brazil) concerning Public Administration practices and their relation with three of his forms of approach: Patrimonial, Bureaucratic and New Public Administration. A qualitative research was adopted, of a descriptive nature, and semi-structured interviews and observations were used. The interviews were transcribed and were analyzed to compare the data obtained with those of the literature. The findings showed that the beliefs and preferences of the Mid-west of Santa Catarina's managers had mainly adopted the Bureaucratic approach with its characteristics. However, this approach did not appear in its pure form, presenting a combination of remaining Patrimonial practices and some nuances of New Public Administration. It was concluded that the current vision concerning public administration reflects the attempt of municipal managers to deal with the pressure of the social environment in order to gain greater control of public expenses, resulting in its adhesion to the bureaucratic approach.
Public Administration; Development; City
