The Variation of Bureaucratic Capacities in the Brazilian Federal Public Administration: an Analysis with Survey Data

Abstract This paper aims to demonstrate the variation in bureaucratic capacities within the Brazilian Federal Public Administration concerning organizations belonging to different policy sectors and verify theoretical propositions in the literature about the relationship between the characteristics of public bureaucracy and state action. For such purposes, data from a questionnaire applied to Brazilian federal civil servants were analyzed using a set of multivariate analysis techniques. The findings indicate that organizations with a greater perception of bureaucratic "weberianess" are correlated with innovative organizations and organizational cultures that restrict corruption. Likewise, organizations with greater bureaucratic autonomy are associated with more effective organizations. However, the observed variation between perceived capabilities and performance did not characterize a clearly identifiable pattern of organization type with public policy sectors. In this sense, the article contributes to the literature by adding nuances to the "islands of excellence" approach by verifying that the asymmetry of capabilities within the Brazilian executive branch is more complex than indicated by previous research.摘要 本文旨在揭示巴西联邦公共行政体系内，隶属于不同政策领域的各机构间的官僚能力差异，并验证文献中关于公共官僚特征与国家行动之间关系的理论命题。为此，本研究采用多元统计分析技术，对针对巴西联邦公务员开展的问卷调查数据进行了分析。研究结果显示，官僚制韦伯属性（Weberianess）感知程度更高的机构，与创新性机构以及能够遏制腐败的组织文化呈显著正相关。同理，官僚自主性更强的机构，其治理效能也更为突出。不过，观测到的能力感知与绩效之间的差异，并未呈现出与公共政策领域明确对应的机构类型模式。在此意义上，本研究通过验证巴西行政部门内的能力不对称性较以往研究指出的更为复杂，为“卓越孤岛（Islands of Excellence）”研究范式补充了精细化视角，从而丰富了相关学术文献。