The revolution in public policies: the institutionalization of changes in the Brazilian economy, from 1930 to 1945

Abstract

The article analyzes the legacies of the 1930’s Revolution from a new angle: that of public policies. To this purpose, it establishes an outline of the economic policies launched since 1930, showing the Ariadne’s thread of these transformations. The methodology combines, in an unprecedented way, serial history, and policy-focused analysis, having presidential executive orders as the basic source to look for fingerprints of the president in these changes. We conclude that more significant changes only gained momentum at the turn of the 1940s, to the point not only of reorienting economic policy, but of creating a new political economy.

Keywords:
1930’s Revolution; Brazilian economy from 1930 to 1945; Public policy; Vargas Era; Political economy