In this article we compare the external activities carried out by two subnational actors of different governmental levels: the Municipality of Porto Alegre (local government) and the State of Rio Grande do Sul (regional government). These two actors have developed external activities that are both relevant and pioneering in the Brazilian context. A description and a comparison of the institutional dimension (paradiplomatic structure) and the substantial dimension (agenda and instruments) of these two subnational governments form the core of this article. Based on the analysis of these two cases, our aim is to contribute to a more specific conceptualization of local and regional governments as international actors. Both can be considered as mixed actors, in part bound to the sovereignty they share with other levels of government over the territory they govern, in part freer than central governments as concerns their foreign policy options, sometimes acting in similar ways to non-state actors. Our initial questions refer to how these two actors conjugate characteristics of sovereignty-bound and sovereignty-free actors and whether there are relevant differences between the external activities they carry out.
Subnational Governments; Paradiplomacy; External Action; International Actors