Cooperative federalism in Brazil and the multilevel environmental management system

Abstract

This paper analyzes the configuration and the main characteristics of cooperative federalism in Brazil, starting from the 1988 Constitution, whose institutional guides are also present in the normative construction of the environmental theme. Considering problems in the conjunct action of public power of the federation´s constituent units, especially the uncoordinated action, and dialoguing with Brazilian federalist literature, the argument is made that the specific reality of each public policy should guide the best federative arrangement to it, but always according to the precepts of cooperative federalism, a normative ideal to be pursued, regardless of the degree of centralization. In tracing the development of environmental federalism in Brazil, which followed the evolution of cooperative federalism in the country, we seek to demonstrate, through a deductive method and literature review, that rigid institutional frameworks are not the best answer for dealing with the complex issues of this multisectoral public policy. The ideal to deal with problems related to a public policy shared by different levels of government is a multilevel management and regulation system, with more or less decentralization, depending on the concrete variables, such as the difference in the state capacities of the entities and the institutions involved in each action area.