Diffusion of Policies, Practices and Social Technologies in Brazil

Abstract

Diffusion of Policies, Practices and Social Technologies in Brazil * (Faria, Carlos Aurelio Pimenta de; Coelho, Denilson Bandeira, and Jard da Silva, Sidney (eds). Difusao de Politicas Publicas. Sao Bernardo do Campo: Publisher UFABC, 2016)It is a welcoming introduction to the Brazilian academic community the arrival of the book 'Public Policy Diffusion', edited by Professors Faria, Coelho and Jard da Silva. As it is stated in the opening pages of the book, the use of diffusion models is very incipient in Brazil in comparison to the level of knowledge accumulation in the international literature, especially in the USA. In this sense, it is an admirable effort to gather together ten chapters not only discussing the dissemination and adoption of public policies but also presenting a diverse collection in terms of perspectives and models possible to be used as an analytical reference.But, in my view, this book could also be read as attempted explanations for the adoption of policies, practices and ideas in the Brazilian case. With the exception of the first chapter (by COELHO), which discusses analytical tools of this literature, nine out of the ten chapters include Brazil in their analysis, either as a single case or in comparison to other Latin American countries and worldwide. Although it is not the purpose of the editors, I could not avoid making connections among chapters thinking about possible general findings for the Brazilian case, which I will discuss further on.For the unfamiliar reader, the phenomenon of policy diffusion could be summarized in the following puzzle: why and how some policies get to be considered as 'good practices' and adopted by other governments?Let us first say that diffusion or transference of policies is not something neww in policy systems. What is new is an academic interest to study the phenomenon and to extract regular patterns for explanation. One thing, then, is to show policies, practices or social technologies being spread or disseminated among governments, but something quite different is to attempt to explain why and how this happens in the attempt of constructing theories of policy diffusion, transfer or, more generally, learning.Some models of explanations, concepts and types of mechanisms that could produce diffusion are presented and discussed. Although there is no unity in the use and applications of the analytical tools and concepts among authors, it is possible to extract some basic features of policy diffusion models.We learn that countries or subnational governments may 01. innovate, that is, adopt a new policy, program or practice; 02. emulate (adapting the original policy to local contexts and objectives) or 03. copy the original policy (associated with coercion). Innovation does not equate to invention as it is understood as "a program that is new to the government adopting it" (BERRY and BERRY, 2007). These are pioneering experiences that may lead to the spreading or adoption by other governments. Emulation does not equate to copying. It means that local conditions and actors will play a role by adapting the original policy to their own needs and beliefs. The case of copying the original policy without adaptation, argue some of the authors, would be more common in countries that do not have enough bureaucratic/state capacity and it is normally associated with the adoption of certain practices as a condition for loans from international agencies. Hence the label 'coercion' for this type of mechanism in which governments do not have, really, much of a choice.Countries may also be analyzed as 'importers' or 'exporters' of policy innovation as some of the authors argue.Based on the readings of the Brazilian case presented throughout the book, one learns that Brazil (also valid for other Latin American countries) has 'imported' and/or diffused domestically the ideas of economic liberalization, regulatory agencies after privatization (chapter by JORDANA), new models of reforming Public Pension (by JARDIM and JARD DA SILVA) and also models of administrative/management reforms (by ABRUCIO, SANO and SEGATTO; and also by PALOTTI, PEREIRA and CAMOES). …