Abstract
Abstract The Brazilian presidential elections of 2018 brought large-scale changes in the Brazilian environmental policy subsystem. The purpose of this article is to analyze these changes through the lenses of the Advocacy Coalition Framework - ACF. First, we introduced some of the main characteristics of this subsystem, then we presented a hemerographic analysis to describe and analyze the effects of four recent shocks in this subsystem. Two of these shocks were external: (i) the election of a new political elite in power that brought a clear discourse of denial of the relevance of environmental policy and (ii) calamitous environmental events that occurred in Brazil in 2019. The other two shocks were internal: (i) the capture of key positions and resources by dominant coalition members and (ii) the rise of conflict and polarization among the coalitions in the subsystem. The results showed: (i) the rise of a hyper-adversarial environmental policy subsystem; (ii) a realignment between non-dominant coalitions in a cooperative direction; (iii) the imposition of clear barriers to negotiation; (iv) changes in the use of scientific information by more politicized discourses with a high degree of bias. The article contributes to the understanding of the processes of institutional change in environmental policy, especially in contexts of large-scale change generated by increasing electoral polarization and fierce political disputes. It also contributes to the analysis of the limits and possibilities of the ACF in the Brazilian environmental agenda.
Highlights
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with seven very different biomes and around 20% of the world’s biological diversity, including almost 2/3 of the Amazon Forest
We argue for the existence of four large-scale changes started in 2019 in Brazilian environmental policy subsystem
A controversial and recurring issue is the restrictions of environmental regulation to economic growth, for example, by preventing or limiting access to natural resources, and imposing the internalization of costs. Responses to this and other controversies originated in different positions and beliefs on what should be sustainability, environmental justice and what is the role of the State in the protection and distribution of natural resources (Hopwood, Mellor, & O’Brien, 2005). These positions and beliefs will be incorporated by political coalitions that try to influence decisions in the Brazilian environmental policy subsystem
Summary
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with seven very different biomes and around 20% of the world’s biological diversity, including almost 2/3 of the Amazon Forest. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent changes and the new equilibrium between coalitions in the Brazilian environmental policy subsystem from ACF perspective and categories. The paper questions were how can we understand the recent large-scale change of Brazilian environmental policy applying ACF? The paper contributes to the understanding of reasons and forms in which the changes in the recent Brazilian environmental policy subsystem occurred and to examine the viability of applying ACF to analyze large-scale change in the balance of a policy subsystem in a country with unconsolidated democracy. We argue for the existence of four large-scale changes (shocks) started in 2019 in Brazilian environmental policy subsystem. The final consideration presents some topics for reflection about the new dynamics in Brazilian environmental policy subsystem
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