Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do Courts Matter? Institutional Arrangements, Judicial Impact and the Attitude of Brazilian Federal Agencies Toward Court Decisions

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation project contributes to the understanding of the relationship between judicial and executive branches in new democracies through the study of compliance with court decisions by federal administrative agencies in Brazil. Looking at the areas of health, social security, and the environment, this project investigates why and under what conditions federal administrative agencies in a new democratic regime comply with court decisions. Relevant factors, it is argued, include agencies' institutional characteristics, the nature of the policy in dispute, the characteristics of the court decision - type of legal case and clarity of opinion - and the characteristics of the federal system in the country. Methodologically, the project combines quantitative analysis of legal cases, surveys of judges and agency actors, in-depth interviews with agency personnel, and archival work on the history of the institutions analyzed. The bulk of the research consists of the compilation of a database of legal cases in which agencies faced adverse court decisions and in-depth interviews with court and agency actors to assess factors affecting agency responses. Political scientists and legal scholars have yet to fully grapple with the impact of courts and institutional history in Latin America and new democracies. As such, the study of bureaucratic response to court rulings addresses a major gap in the existing literature and - by illuminating aspects of the relationship between judicial and executive branches in Brazil - furthers our understanding of how new democracies function. Responding to increasing concerns about the role of the judiciary in consolidating democracy, this research project offers important contributions to the debate on judicial politics and, more broadly, to that of democratization in Latin America. Finally, the research will also contribute to the development of a research framework with which to develop regional and cross-regional studies of judicial impact, and ultimately further illuminate the impact of state behavior on democracy.