Privatizing Telebras - Brazilian political institutions and policy performance

Brazilian political institutions have been the subject of intense debate. A more pessimistic view argues that the electoral and party systems constrain effective policymaking, while a more optimistic one sees Brazilian presidents as relatively unimpeded. However, this debate has taken place with little reference to the most critical area in evaluating institutional performance: public policy. Neither view accounts satisfactorily for the outcome of the privatization of the Brazilian telecommunications system. Instead, noninstitutional factors, especially public opinion and the quality of individual leaders, are critical in explaining policy results. More systematic cross-sectoral and cross-national studies of policy outcomes are needed to understand better the impact of political institutions.