Bureaucratic responses to democratic backsliding: an analysis of the agency of federal civil servants during the Bolsonaro government

Abstract:

The rise of far-right authoritarian leaders in contemporary democracies has catalyzed processes of democratic backsliding, with profound and diverse political implications. One of the least explored dimensions of this phenomenon is the impact of the actions of these political leaders on the functioning of government bureaucracies. The question that guides our analysis is: how does the dynamic between political control and bureaucratic reaction take place in contexts of democratic backsliding? The analysis is based on 165 interviews with mid-level bureaucrats between December 2020 and July 2021 in 15 different social, economic, environmental and planning organizations of the Brazilian federal government during the Bolsonaro government. The findings suggest that political control and bureaucratic reaction is a dynamic relationship that involves interactions and learning over time.

Keywords:
bureaucratic reaction; political oppression; authoritarianism; democratic backsliding; bureaucracy