Civil society and development: The role of the third sector in the public policy process in Santa Catarina and Sergipe, Brazi

This dissertation looks broadly at the role of civil society in development. The central hypothesis is that a robust civil society contributes to development. Development needs to be seen as a social process, rather than as simply a matter of providing infrastructure, training, and getting the macro-economic environment 'right'. As such, the traditional market v. state dichotomy needs to be broadened to take on board the positive contributions to development outcomes made by non-state, non-profit seeking groups participating in the policy process.;More narrowly, the issue is analyzed through the lens of the role of scientific and professional associations (SPAs) in public policy in the Brazilian states of Sergipe and Santa Catarina. The research weaves together three bodies of literature--the "third sector", the sociology of science and the economic development literatures--through studying how formal associations of scientists and professionals get involved in the policy process. Scientists, engineers and doctors are studied as their technical expertise makes their exclusion from the policy process especially indicative of a closed civil society. Relatively developed Santa Catarina and relatively underdeveloped Sergipe are studied to take advantage of the great comparative leverage offered by Brazil's regional inequalities. Three strands of evidence are offered to demonstrate that SPAs contribute to positive policy outcomes: a survey of the background literature on third sector activity in the two states, an event count of SPA activity in the two states, and a more qualitative assessment of the evidence of SPA policy involvement.