Does political recruitment impact the attitudes and perceptions of bureaucrats in Brazilian ministries? Empirical evidence using matching in a survey

Abstract

The article studies political recruitment effects on attitudes and perceptions of bureaucrats working in Brazilian national ministries, using matching techniques. Part of the literature associates types of recruitment with differences in bureaucratic behavior, suggesting that different modes of personnel selection generate distinctive incentives to perform bureaucratic activities. The theoretical expectations of the political treatment on attitudes and perceptions are partially supported on 12% of the analyzed topics. On the one hand, treatment power has shown a specific effect, mainly of relational nature. On the other hand, the results relativize the bureaucracy-politics cleavage, inferring that there are more nuances in that relationship than assumed by this hypothetical division.

bureaucrats; ministries; recruitment; behaviour; matching