Meritocracia nos concursos públicos dos Tribunais de Contasestamos selecionando os mais aptos ou os mais endinheirados?

Resumo

Objective - The study investigates whether the current model of public tenders applied to the Brazil’s Audit Courts acts as an effective instrument of equal opportunities and meritocracy, or if, on the contrary, it reproduces historical economic inequalities by favoring candidates from higher social classes. The main objective is to evaluate the degree of economic representativeness of the bureaucratic body of Audit Courts in comparison to the Brazilian socioeconomic pyramid. Methodology - The approach adopted was quantitative, with the application of a structured questionnaire to the permanent employees of 25 of the 33 existing Audit Courts. The sample consisted of 556 respondents, classified according to social class of origin, according to two criteria: direct question about past family income and the Brazil Criterion of the Brazilian Association of Research Companies (ABEP). Blocks of questions with ordinal scales of intensity were also used to capture the respondents' perception of the barriers to entering the public career. Results - The data reveal a profound asymmetry in the socioeconomic composition of the bureaucratic body of the Audit Courts. While the population of classes 'A', 'B' and 'C' represent 21.4% of Brazilians, they occupy 71.7% of the civil servants. At the opposite extreme, classes 'D', 'E' and 'F' add up to 76.3% of the population and account for only 28.3% of the civil servants. In addition, the greater the prestige and remuneration of the position, the greater the concentration of civil servants from the upper classes. The results indicate that several factors function as invisible barriers to the full democratization of public tenders. This structure resembles the phenomenon of elitism in the entrance exams of the most prestigious universities in the United States of America, as analyzed by Sandel (2020), revealing a meritocratic paradox: it is often selected not the most apt, but the most privileged. Limitations - The main methodological limitation was the impossibility of conducting the qualitative interviews initially planned, which restricted the approach. Practical implications - The study offers subsidies for public managers, especially Audit Courts, to rethink their recruitment policies with a view to promoting greater socioeconomic equity. It is recommended to consider affirmative actions of a socioeconomic nature, in addition to those already existing of a racial and gender nature. It is also highlighted the need to review the models of competitive examinations, which today are excessively focused on objective tests and disconnected from broader criteria for evaluating aptitude for public service. By evidencing the underrepresentation of the less favored classes in the Audit Courts, the dissertation contributes to the debate on social justice, intergenerational mobility and economic inclusion. It brings up the concept of "economic bureaucratic representativeness" as an essential axis for the discussion and analysis of the data collected. Originality - In addition, it proposes a reading of the principle of material equality (article 5, Constituição (1988)) and the fundamental objectives of the Republic (article 3, Constituição (1988)), to the economic dimension of public selection processes. The dissertation also innovates by building a parallel between the Brazilian reality and the educational and selective model of the United States of America, bringing theoretical contributions from Sandel (2020), Mosher (1968), Meier & Capers (2012), Dworkin (2000) and Barroso (2024) to understand the problem of inequality of opportunities within the State itself.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Dissertação

Ano

2025

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Português

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/37129

Temas

Gestão PúblicaAdministração Pública

Palavras-chave

Burocracia representativaClasse socialDesigualdade econômicaServidor públicoAdministração públicaServiço público - ConcursosBurocraciaIgualdadeJustiça social