The setting up and bankruptcy of the “Socialist City Council” of Rio de Janeiro

an interpretation of the experience of the Saturnino Braga government (1986-1988) based on the theory of urban regimes (TUR)

Abstract

This article analyzes Saturnino Braga's administration as Rio de Janeiro City mayor (1986-1988) based on Clarence Stone's theory of urban regimes (TUR). Methodologically, the article draws on secondary sources, newspapers, and institutional documents. We support the hypothesis that the mayor's administration, through its emphasis on redistributive policies, on the one hand, and on market regulatory actions, on the other, constitutes a progressive urban regime, blending, according to the typology of urban regimes, features of progressive middle-class urban regimes with those of urban regimes that expanded opportunities for the lower classes. Saturnino Braga’s administration agenda was clearly marked by redistributive and regulatory policies, such as the upgrading of favelas, the expansion of the health and education departments, and the demarcation of areas for environmental protection and cultural preservation. As the URT states, an agenda of such magnitude requires the formation of a broad coalition of economic, political, and social actors. Despite the fact that, at the time, an unprecedented coalition was formed between government authorities and popular segments, we defend, by way of conclusion, the hypothesis according to which the failure of the Saturnino government was due less to the financial dimension and much  more to the political insufficiency of the coalition that was behind the agenda of what was projected at the time as the agenda of the first socialist municipal government of Rio de Janeiro.