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Synonyms

Capability; Capacity; Governance capacity; Institutional capacity; State capacity

Policy capacity is a relative new concept developed in the field of policy studies that derives from the state capacity debate. After a period of disinterest, in the 1980s and 1990s, on the state as a subject of analysis in the political studies and the focus on processes of transition to democracy and factors that limit and control political power, capacity approach revitalizes the discussion on the accumulation and operation of state’s power (Fukuyama 2013).

State capacity was initially conceived as an analytical category to examine processes of state formation in comparative historical experiences of economic development. In other words, its original conception entailed the question on how state capacity conditions countries’ economic development (Amsden 1989; Evans 1992). However, the concept’s malleability allowed the expansion of its content and further applications in distinct...

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Correspondence to Natália Massaco Koga .

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Koga, N.M. (2019). Policy Capacity, Brazil. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3770-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3770-1

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