The Deconstruction of environmental policy and the freezing of bureaucratic capacities in Brazil

Abstract

This work analyzes street-level bureaucrats’ action in the implementation of environmental policy in Brazil, taking as case studies the IBAMA inspectors and ICMBio agents, before and after the beginning of President Bolsonaro’s term. A theoretical model was developed that integrates three different analytical dimensions of street-level bureaucrats’ action: the institutional, the individual and the relational dimension. Based on this, a case-oriented investigation was conducted, where significant cases were selected to illustrate the two different profiles of environmental agents (cross-case analysis). Thus, through semi-structured and in depth interviews, the testimonies of twenty-eight street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) from the two mentioned institutions were collected, in addition to the examination of relevant norms and documents. The information obtained was analyzed using Systematic Content Analysis (SCA). The SCA contemplated the codification of texts, the analysis of its contents and the statistical analysis of the codifications systematized according to the indicators of the theoretical model. From this, the meanings posed by the interlocutors were compared across different cases and corroborated through documentary analysis. In addition, a cross-time poll was conducted on the institutional changes that occurred before and after the beginning of Bolsonaro government. The results of the paper show comparatively between IBAMA inspectors and ICMBio agents what are the elements that define the street-level bureaucrats’ action in Brazilian environmental policy and how they are articulated, with their peculiarities in each of the institutions. The changes undertaken by the Bolsonaro administration currently in power have led, in just three years, to the freezing of bureaucratic capacities, the weakening of institutions and the deconstruction of environmental governance in Brazil. From these results, the work concludes that, to enforce the preservation of the environment within the national and international regulatory frameworks, Brazilian environmental policy needs to be not only constitutionally defined, but fully regulated along the lines of the Federal Constitution, regardless of the interests of the government in power at the time.