Abstract
The paper discusses aspects of the political culture in the Portuguese Overseas Empire and the exercise of power by rulers as an alter ego of the monarch in the Portuguese America. The analyses highlight the Crown policies in the 18th century, realizing a transformation of the forms of ruling through the different practices of justice establishment. They also comprise the examination of the royal appointments as sources of distributive justice granted to the Portugal-original elites. I examine the political/administrative strategies of the Count of Assumar, governor of Minas Gerais between 1717 and 1721, whose administration oscillated between good and poor, according to the sources. A new perception of the reason of State in transformation emerges in the mining region, expressed in the control of the population, in the challenge to the local powers, appeasing conflicts and establishing order. The implementation of this policy changed gradually the assumption of the art of ruling in view of an incipient administrative reasonability on the part of the Crown.
Keywords:
Empire - govern - distributive justice - center-periphery relations - reason of State