Ideas out of place: Public Policy studies in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

This article conducts a diagnostic analysis of the academic domain of Public Policy studies in Brazil, with a focus on two main dimensions: (i) teaching, by examining the profiles of Postgraduate Programs and faculty members within the field, and (ii) research, through an assessment of the national bibliographic production on public policies.

Materials and methods:

Beginning with a thorough delineation of this research domain, we collected data from 139 postgraduate programs listed on the Sucupira Platform, covering fourteen distinct evaluation areas outlined by CAPES. Subsequently, we conducted a meticulous search within the SciELO Brasil database, resulting in the identification of 13,432 publications spanning the period from 1968 to 2022. Our analysis then sought to map the interdisciplinary contributions and the adoption of analytical models within the scientific literature on public policies.

Results:

Our analysis suggests that the main disciplines comprising the international core in public policy studies, such as Political Science, Economics, and Public Administration, have limited engagement in terms of the number of postgraduate programs, doctoral training, and scientific output.

Discussion:

Despite the substantial number of doctoral graduates and a solid scientific output, the diversity and widespread distribution across institutions and topics underscore the challenges in consolidating public policy as an interdisciplinary epistemic community that shares standardized references and theoretical frameworks.

Keywords
public policies; postgraduate studies; scientific output; analytical models; multi-disciplinarity