PUBLIC POLICIES IN CRISIS CONTEXTS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FORMULATION OF ECONOMIC POLICIES IN BRAZIL IN 2008 AND 2020

Abstract

This article presents a comparative analysis of the setting of the agenda and formulation of public policies in Brazil in response to the financial crisis of 2008 and the health crisis of 2020. The objective is to verify to what measure the existence of these crises, their nature, the economic context and the propensity of the government to intervene in the economy influence the process of formulating public policies to deal with the crises' consequences. For this purpose, we compare the emergency policies established by the federal government executive and legislative branches) in the six months after the start of each crisis in Brazil. The results indicate that in 2008, most of the policies adopted originated from existing policies and programs and were transitory, with the exceptions of the Minha Casa Minha Vida ("My Home My Life" ) program and tax relief measures. Besides this, the reactions were more centralized in the executive. In turn, in 2020 the most important policies were new (Program to Maintain Employment and Income and Emergency Relief Program), although also temporary, with a contradictory stance of the executive and active participation of Congress.