Caetano Penna
Title: ‘The Brazilian Managerial Reform of 1995: A Weberian Perspective’
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rainer Kattel
Opponents: Prof. Dr. Eugenie Samier,
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drechsler
Defense: 22 April 2009
Abstract: The thesis analyses the episode of reforming the Brazilian civil service from a Weberian perspective. The article aims to answer two interrelated questions: ‘What were the conditions that enabled the approval of the Brazilian managerial reform of 1995?’ and ‘Which trajectory did Brazil follow, and how, in the managerial reforms of 1995?’. The author contends that it was the charismatic role played by the elite decision-maker, Minister Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, that was decisive for the reform to be successful and that this charismatic quality has influenced the reform trajectory, which followed a ‘Neo-Weberian’ reform program – and not a program purely based on the New Public Management.
Keywords: Max Weber, Charismatic Leadership, Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, Brazilian Managerial Reform of 1995, Neo-Weberian State, New Public Management
