State capacity and sustainable regional development policy in the Amazon

This article aims to assess the state capacity of the Brazilian federal government to formulating and implementing the Sustainable Regional Development Plan for the Area of Influence of the BR-163 Road. Shortly, State capacity is considered as both State power to reaching remote regions within its territory and to coordinating relationships within its bureaucracy and with civil society. This research is based on analysis of 35 interviews applied to both civil society and government representatives, during the years of 2008 to 2009 and 2012 to 2013. Besides it, additional analysis of public documents and academic articles has been undertaken. We concluded that a lack of governmental institutional commitment to that region associated with an uninterested and incoherent bureaucracy has led to failures during the formulation and implementation processes of the Sustainable Regional Development Plan for the BR-163 Road.