This article analyzes Poupatempo, a recent bureaucratic reform in Brazil. We argue that it offers insight into a potentially successful strategy to promote institutional reforms. After analyzing the design of the project and the obstacles to its implementation, we conclude that Poupatempo's most innovative feature was the fact that it did not try to reform existing institutions. Instead it created a new pathway around an inefficient bureaucracy. This type of reform — the institutional bypass — has not been considered by the academic literature on institutional change but, as the case of Poupatempo suggests, it should be further investigated and analyzed.
Keywords:
Institutional change; New Institutionalism; Poupatempo; Bureaucracy; Brazil