A review of classical thoughts on contemporary public administration in developing countries
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Ricardo C. Gomes,Erika Lisboa |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12813 |
BOOK REVIEW
A review of classical thoughts on contemporary
public administration in developing countries
1|INTRODUCTION
For international readers, we suggest three books in this review that are genuine representations of the history of
Brazilian public administration, because they deal with its operations and ideology from the period of the monarchy
up to the beginning of the 21st century. The books are The owners/holders of power: the formation of Brazilian political
patronage by Raymundo Faoro, State reform and managerial public administration by Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira and
Peter Spink, and Administration and Brazilian context: an outline of a general theory of administration by Alberto
Guerreiro Ramos.
Since the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil in 1808, studies have reported attempts to implement a
public administration to address issues of government and the consolidation of the Brazilian State. King Jo~
ao VI ini-
tially brought the entire collection of administrative documents from Portugal to establish the monarchy in Brazil
(Costa, 2008) Then in 1889, Brazil became a republic. The court was sent back to Portugal, and a new state was
formed. The first measure adopted was to call elections for a constituent assembly. The Constitution of 1891
established the republic as the form of government, and federalism as the departmentalization of the executive
power that would function under the presidential regime, and which is working to this day.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, and the beginning of the 21st, public administration in the Brazilian State
has been characterized as patrimonial, bureaucratic, and managerial, and today it is seen adopting a stance that
focuses more on accepting the participation of society in its major decisions. This trajectory is complex and requires
very sophisticated analytical treatment by the academics and practitioners of public administration. The Brazilian
State has had moments of patrimonialism, bureaucracy, and managerialism, but observers can find evidence of all
three of these characteristics in Brazilian public administration even now. The purpose of this review is to present
examples of some of the attempts that have been made to understand the complex reality of the functioning of
Brazilian public administration in three books.
For international readers, we suggest three books in this review that are genuine representations of the history
of Brazilian public administration, because they deal with its operations and ideology from the period of the monar-
chy up to the beginning of the 21st century. The books are The owners of power: the formation of Brazilian political
patronage by Raymundo Faoro (2021), State reform and managerial public administration by Luiz Carlos Bresser-
Pereira and Peter Spink (2015), and Administration and Brazilian context: an outline of a general theory of administration
by Alberto Guerreiro Ramos (1983). While the first book addresses the historical and cultural aspects that helped
shape Brazilian public administration, the second outlines a perspective of the administrative reforms that have
shaped public administration today. The third book adopts a different perspective, and presents an outline of how
administrative theories are used in public and private organizations in Brazil. The first book has a rich historical narra-
tive that deals with the beginning of public administration history; the second is an attempt to introduce new public
management in the country; and the third was written by one of the most important thinkers, its contribution being
that it proposes a theory of Brazilian administration.
Received: 27 October 2021 Accepted: 27 October 2021
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12813
Public Admin. 2022;100:169–172. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 169
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