Mutualismos institucionais e autonomia mediadarelação entre a política e os ministérios públicos no federalismo brasileiro

Resumo

Public prosecutors hold an ambiguous position within the Brazilian political system: although tasked with overseeing public authorities, they often build their institutional strategies through relationships of interdependence with the actors they are supposed to monitor. This dissertation investigates how the institutional autonomy of State Public Prosecutors’ Offices (Ministérios Públicos Estaduais – MPEs), both before and after the 1988 Federal Constitution, impacts their political independence from state governments. To this end, the research includes interviews with MP members across Brazil, document analysis, two in-depth case studies, and a quantitative dimension focused on the career trajectories of federal deputies who previously worked in the MP. Recognizing that the expansion of formal autonomy did not automatically lead to greater distance between MPEs and state political power, the study seeks to understand the forms of interdependence and negotiation that emerge from this scenario. It develops two key concepts: institutional mutualism, which describes enduring arrangements of cooperation and bargaining between MPEs and state executives; and mediated autonomy, which expresses how functional autonomy, although legally guaranteed, depends on informal political accommodations to be effectively exercised. The findings show that rather than breaking with political influence, the autonomy gained by MPEs reconfigured the modes of control and interaction between these institutions and state governments. The comparative analysis reveals a diversity of institutional mutualisms, whose variation is explained by three main factors. The first is the politicalinstitutional context, particularly the effects of Brazilian federalism on the distribution of power and resources among states. The second concerns internal dynamics of control and authority, especially the central role of State Prosecutors-General in mediating between internal and external interests. The third is organizational culture, which shapes repertoires of action, patterns of cooperation, and the boundaries of functional independence within each state-level MP. Based on these findings, the dissertation argues that MPEs operate within a relational and adaptive field, where autonomy depends on institutional strategies and the capacity to negotiate with the state political system. Rather than understanding independence as a fixed or absolute condition, the research proposes viewing it as a relational concept, shaped by networks of interdependence.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Tese

Ano

2025

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Português

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/37495

Temas

Desenvolvimento RegionalAdministração Pública

Palavras-chave

AutonomiaIndependênciaFederalismoMinistério PúblicoAutonomyIndependenceFederalismPublic Prosecutor’s OfficeAdministração públicaPromotores públicos - BrasilMinistérios públicos - Brasil