Agency and implementation: Theoretical and practical perspectives from the Brazilian Policy on Solid Waste
This research analyzes the inherent challenges imposed upon the implementation of the Brazilian Policy on Solid Waste, particularly as it relates to the contribution of bureaucrats to its effectiveness. Theoretical contributions were made on that regard, making use of the literature on policy implementation as well as the neo-institutional framework on agency, in order to comprehend how the interaction between agents and institutions can subsidize the understanding of how bureaucrats experience and interact with the policies they implement. From this integrated perspective, important findings on ambiguity in public policies emerge as this research proposes its comprehension as a decision point that interrupts the implementation process, and manifests itself through the absence of instruments for its continuation, uncertainty about how use them or inadequacy of available devices. Thus, ambiguity makes room for agency and for the exercise of discretion. From the implementation standpoint, therefore, it is relevant to understand how bureaucrats identify decision points, mobilize institutions to deal with ambiguity, and impact implementation. To this end, this work was based on qualitative exploratory research, with a deductive approach, which was complemented by empirical investigation in order to identify strategies used by Ibama bureaucrats to implement the Brazilian Policy on Solid Waste. Through the conducting of interviews, three groups were identified and segregated by the way they proposed solutions to their current demands and put together instruments to operationalize them. From theoretical and empirical investigations, some research findings stand out, such as: (i) the identification of ambiguity as a point that demands agency, in which the institution offers openness for the agent to experience it, in a process of mutual construction; (ii) the recognition that a higher number of decision points (more manifestations of ambiguity) makes implementation more dependent on agency; and (iii) the greater the ambiguity in public policy, the greater the importance of providing bureaucrats with tools that allow them to make decisions aligned with policy objectives.