Introduction

The Graduate Program in Public Policy at the Federal University of ABC (PGPP/UFABC) was officially recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Education under Ordinance No. 794, dated September 11, 2014. Since then, it has contributed to consolidating the field of public policy studies in Brazil, with a strong presence in the Political Science and International Relations area of CAPES. Initially approved as an academic master’s program, the doctorate was approved in 2020, with the first cohort starting in 2021.

Program Name: Public Policy
CAPES Evaluation Area: Political Science and International Relations, Public Policy subarea
Program Type: Academic
Degrees Offered: Master’s and Doctorate
Number of Openings: 20 for the master’s program and 10 for the doctorate program
Selection Process: Annual, with admission in UFABC’s third academic term

Currently, 20 annual openings are offered for the master’s program and 10 for the doctorate program, with selection processes conducted annually in the third academic term.

Since its creation, the PGPP/UFABC has aimed to produce academic knowledge in political science and public policy, focusing on understanding public policy's political, economic, and social dimensions, generating robust theoretical and methodological contributions, internationally oriented, and with potential for social transformation. This mission refers back to the origins of the "policy sciences of democracy" field, as proposed by Harold Lasswell (1951), and is operationalized through four main areas of activity:

Academic Training: The curriculum combines core and elective courses, organized around the program’s research lines. This educational structure ensures a solid theoretical foundation combined with strong methodological training, covering diverse approaches to public policy analysis. The curriculum fosters articulation between theory and practice, preparing master’s and doctoral graduates to work across different government levels, institutional contexts, and applied research fields.

Academic Impact: PGPP has established itself as a center of academic excellence, encouraging the production of rigorous and relevant knowledge. Research developed within the program engages with key national and international debates, encompassing diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. Scientific output is disseminated through high-quality journals, books, and academic conferences, reflecting the program’s commitment to consolidating public policy studies as a subfield of political science in Brazil.

Social Impact: The program seeks to contribute directly to improving public policies and the democratic process in the country. Research conducted within PGPP addresses relevant public problems, considering the complexity of Brazil’s social and institutional challenges. Interaction with public managers, civil society organizations, and other social actors guides academic production towards solving real-world problems, promoting stronger connections between the university and society.

Internationalization: PGPP's training integrates a comparative and international perspective. The program encourages faculty and students to participate in international networks and events and engage in academic and scientific exchanges with researchers and institutions from other countries. Internationalization is considered a strategic axis of the program, contributing to strengthening academic training and the qualification of scientific output.

History, Motivation, and Justification

In 2010, UFABC created the Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy, which generated demand from the academic community—both faculty and students—to establish graduate programs. These programs would enable continuing educational training for UFABC graduates, while also opening opportunities for students from other institutions.

UFABC is characterized by its emphasis on interdisciplinarity, which naturally extends to the public policy graduate program—an area that is also inherently interdisciplinary, whether regarding different policy areas or the necessary dialogue between scholars, researchers, and professionals from various knowledge fields.

UFABC prioritizes the quality of its faculty, consistently seeking to recruit professors with profiles suitable for graduate-level teaching and research. The diversity of undergraduate disciplines has led to hiring professors from different backgrounds, allowing the program to welcome students with varied theoretical and empirical interests without losing sight of its guiding academic focus.

The program's faculty is predominantly composed of political science and public administration professionals, with established experience in interdisciplinary research and accumulated expertise at the intersection of these two fields. This composition allows the program to respond effectively to the growing demand for technical and scientific support in formulating, implementing, and evaluating public policies—especially in today’s social, economic, environmental, and technological complexities. In addition to producing scientific knowledge, PGPP also contributes to the ongoing training and qualification of university professors, public managers at different levels of government, private sector professionals, and members of civil society organizations, within the scope of an institutional project that integrates undergraduate and graduate education.

Through its graduate programs, PGPP/UFABC seeks to contribute to consolidating a growing subfield within political science in Brazil, which still lacks academic programs dedicated to critical and theoretical reflection. This need becomes increasingly apparent given the historical precariousness of the country's public institutions and political processes, but also the undeniable recent advances in the capacity and responsibility of governments at different levels to implement public policies.

Currently structured into three research lines, the program reflects its consolidation and expansion in response to the contemporary challenges of the public policy field. The research lines—Public Policy Analysis and Management, Institutions, Society, and Democratic Governance, and Public Policies in International Perspective—were defined to ensure a clear and distinct profile for the program, maintaining thematic and methodological coherence while expanding analytical possibilities in a rapidly changing society.

Within political science's scope, public policies have specific analytical frameworks, emphasizing the understanding of democratic institutions and the political processes that structure public action. The program prioritizes the study of relationships between executive, legislative, and judicial branches across different governmental levels, as well as the role of public administration in policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Additionally, it values the analysis of public policies as concrete social processes, without neglecting their institutional and political dimensions. Creating the research line dedicated to international perspectives reinforces the program’s commitment to a comparative and global approach, essential for understanding the transnational dynamics that affect the public policy field.

Given contemporary societal complexities—including globalization, global/local environmental crises, persistent social inequalities, state reforms, technological transformations, and growing democratic legitimacy challenges—traditional political institutions face increasing limits in policymaking and must incorporate new social actors throughout the policy cycle. Political science has addressed these changes through theories of public, democratic, societal, or interactive governance.

Attention to such transformations in governmental processes aligns with the program's concern for democratic consolidation, reflecting the founding concerns of the field of public policy as "policy sciences of democracy," as envisioned by Lasswell (1951) and others. This focus on strengthening democratic governance holds particular relevance in the Brazilian context, given the significant expansion of participatory channels and practices over recent decades, whose outcomes remain ambiguous and require continued, in-depth study. Thus, PGPP’s faculty share concerns with new practices of democratic and multilevel governance, the increasing demand for greater political participation in public policy processes, and the implications of emerging global and Latin American governance structures for democracy in Brazil—constituting the backbone of the program’s research agenda.

General Objectives

Among its general objectives, the program aims to establish a comprehensive training pathway from undergraduate to doctoral levels, forming professionals and academics with both instrumental competencies related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies and analytical skills to critically assess the institutional and procedural factors shaping policy outcomes. This formation acknowledges the challenges of a globalized and rapidly changing world and the demands of deepening democratic practices.

The program focuses on two institutional objectives embraced by UFABC: fostering interdisciplinary knowledge production and strengthening the university's engagement with society. The multidisciplinary approach encourages scientific dialogue between different disciplines around public policy, using political science as the primary analytical framework while respecting methodological pluralism. Regarding community engagement, the program seeks to improve social and political conditions through research, training qualified professionals for policy formulation and implementation, and encouraging students to participate in activities that connect the university to broader societal needs.

PGPP/UFABC is defined by its grounding in Brazilian reality. It aims to foster ongoing collaboration and exchange with graduate programs and research teams nationally and internationally.

Specific Objectives

The Graduate Program in Public Policy aims to:

• Train university professors, researchers, and professionals working in the field of public policy;

• Prepare students for careers as analysts, administrators, and leaders at various levels of government, nonprofit organizations, and corporations domestically and internationally.

• Promote the production and dissemination of knowledge in public policy, particularly those relevant to the region where the program is located;

• Increase the number of professionals engaged in knowledge production within the field of public policy.

• Establish technical-scientific exchange with educational and research institutions in other regions of the country and abroad, particularly in postgraduate education;

• Contribute, in cooperation with various public and private agents, to the understanding and resolution of issues relevant to the ABC region;

• Create and strengthen effective mechanisms for articulation between graduate and undergraduate programs, aiming to expand and improve scientific production and teaching activities at UFABC.