Institutionalising Anti-Corruption in Brazil: The Path of Controladoria-Geral da União (CGU)

Abstract

This thesis is about the institutional trajectory of the Controladoria-Geral da União (Brazil's Office of the Comptroller General - CGU). The CGU was established in 2001 and is the anti-corruption agency of the federal government of Brazil. Considering staff and budget, the CGU may be presented as the largest anti-corruption agency in the world. However, there are very few studies about the institution, and the existing works do not address aspects of the origin and development. The study examines the origin and the process of gradual change of the CGU as an example towards institutionalisation. Historical institutionalism indicates the crucial theoretical approach of the study in the sense that the institution is considered as a concrete legacy of a historical process. However, the study has a borrowing approach to explain part of the institution's path.The research aims to explain the CGU's path from origin to its establishment as the main instrument of the Brazil's anti-corruption policy. A combination of methods of archive and document analysis and group and elite interview is applied. The institution itself and the manner in which it has been formed and changed are at the core of the study. Two reseach questions were developed and answered in the thesis: (1) Why and in which context has this particular institutional arrangement emerged? and (2) How has this institution been persisting over time? The objective and interests are to show not only what have changed, but "how", "when" and "why" this changes occured. The reseach findings point out that an exploratory analysis about institutional change is better understood when a combination of theoretical perspectives is applied. The study also concludes that continuous change and innovation are crucial for an anti-corruption agency to endure and for an anti-corruption policy to succeed.