Development of a model for the analysis of public policy networks in a federalism and coalitional presidentialism context

Abstract This is a theoretical essay that proposes a model for analyzing Brazilian public policy networks. The model innovates by incorporating the aspects of federalism and coalitional presidentialism into network analysis, since they are crucial aspects of power relations in Brazil. The literature on networks points out that structural and operational factors, as well as the context in which networks are embedded, are relevant to comprehend their effectiveness. However, the underlying power relations are often neglected by Public Administration analyzes. Thus, in the proposed model, federalism and coalitional presidentialism were included in the contextual characteristics, in order to add elements of power to the analyses of public policy networks in Brazil.