Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 46 n. 3 Rio de Janeiro 2003
Abstract
This study deals with the reform of the State public school system in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The central aim of the reform is to establish decentralized spaces for participation by the population and professional educators in school management as a way of neutralizing the use of schools for political cronyism. The reform involved a process that spanned the terms of three different Governors, with participation by various actors displaying distinct political perspectives, interests, and ideologies. The study attempts to explain the causal factors affecting the decision-making process. As explanatory factors, the case study suggests the actors' capacity to establish common objectives and utilize available power instruments, the characteristics of the institutional context in which they acted, and the learning process developed with the legacy of previous policies.
Keywords: public policies, administrative policy decentralization, institutional change in education
DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52582003000300006
Anatomy of a reform: decentralization of public education and institutional change in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil