Strategic analysis of the Brazilian federal government’s performance in the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020-2021

Abstract The study aim is to analyze the performance of the Brazilian federal government (FG) in the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to identify tensions and conflicts between actors and institutions of the three branches of the government and the FG with state governors. Data production included a review of articles, publications and documents that analyze the pandemic evolution and record announcements, decisions, actions, debates and controversies between these actors in the period of 2020 to 2021. The results include the characterization of the action style of the central Actor and the analysis of conflicts between the Presidency, the Ministry of Health, ANVISA, state governments, the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Federal Supreme Court, seeking to correlate them with the debate around the political projects for health in dispute under the current circumstances. It is concluded that the central actor largely used a communicative action aimed at his supporters and strategic action characterized by imposition, coercion and confrontation in the relationships he maintained with other institutional actors, especially when they diverged from his viewpoints about how to face the health crisis, consistently with his connection to the ultra-neoliberal and authoritarian political project of the FG, which includes the deconstruction of the Brazilian Unified Health System.