Legal, normative, and responsive frames in the debate about the reform of Brazilian Courts of Accounts

Abstract: This research describes the frames associated with the mobilization process around the debate about the reform of Brazilian Courts of Accounts (TCs) from 2000 to 2017. Through legitimacy accounts of legal and non-legal actors, three frames were identified: legal, associated with regulation, reframing, and legal compliance of TCs; normative, associated with the transition from political management to the technical competence of TCs and; responsive, associated with the social visibility of TCs. The data consisted of parliamentary speeches, public hearings, debates, news broadcasts, and interviews with representatives of specific segments such as professional corporations, media, academia, and organized civil society. The findings shed light on the procedural dimension of legitimacy in Justice organizations and highlight the emergence of professional corporations as mobilizing entities in the three spheres of segmentation; the emergence of a ceremonial tonic in aspects that promote inter-organizational behavior, and; the progressive increase in responsiveness linked to the field as a result of the entry of specific segments of society in the debate. The results deepen the political-discursive nature of institutional change.