Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations

Regulatory agencies possess the particularity of being controlled by non-elected politicians whose power is derived from delegations made by incumbent powers. There exists, however, a concern with the creation of institutional mechanisms that permit public participation, thus guaranteeing greater de...

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Main Authors: Marcello Fragano Baird, Ivan Filipe de Almeida Lopes Fernandes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Brazilian Political Science Association 2014-08-01
Series:Brazilian Political Science Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bpsr/v8n2/1981-3821-bpsr-8-2-0070.pdf
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author Marcello Fragano Baird
Ivan Filipe de Almeida Lopes Fernandes
author_facet Marcello Fragano Baird
Ivan Filipe de Almeida Lopes Fernandes
author_sort Marcello Fragano Baird
collection DOAJ
description Regulatory agencies possess the particularity of being controlled by non-elected politicians whose power is derived from delegations made by incumbent powers. There exists, however, a concern with the creation of institutional mechanisms that permit public participation, thus guaranteeing greater democratization and social control of the regulatory process. One of these participatory mechanisms is the public hearing, which was not given much attention by Brazilian literature on lobbying and interest groups. This article seeks to contribute to fill this gap, focusing on the impact of interest groups acting upon the National Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC. Analyzing comments sent to the public hearings, we identified the commentators and the intensity of their participation, the impact of their efforts as measured by the rate of comment incorporation, and we explained why some comments are incorporated and others are not. We organized an original data base of the comments made at all ANAC public hearings between 2007 and May 2012. We analyzed 518 comments concerning 48 regulations. To test participant influence, we classified the comments by degree of technicality, economic or legal argument, authorship, and request for regulation. To understand the incorporation process, we used regression models through which we presented evidence that a comment's incorporation is directly related to its degree of technicality. Technical comments, which effectively subsidize the resolution, have a higher chance of being incorporated. Even more than corporate power or its force of participation, the technical quality proved to be the main factor for comment incorporation.
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spelling doaj.art-846aac1a1f5e4a69a26f688500a900f92022-12-22T00:32:37ZengBrazilian Political Science AssociationBrazilian Political Science Review1981-38211981-38212014-08-01827092Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC RegulationsMarcello Fragano Baird0Ivan Filipe de Almeida Lopes Fernandes1PhD candidate in Political Science, Universidade de São Paulo, BrazilPhD candidate in Political Science, Universidade de São Paulo, BrazilRegulatory agencies possess the particularity of being controlled by non-elected politicians whose power is derived from delegations made by incumbent powers. There exists, however, a concern with the creation of institutional mechanisms that permit public participation, thus guaranteeing greater democratization and social control of the regulatory process. One of these participatory mechanisms is the public hearing, which was not given much attention by Brazilian literature on lobbying and interest groups. This article seeks to contribute to fill this gap, focusing on the impact of interest groups acting upon the National Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC. Analyzing comments sent to the public hearings, we identified the commentators and the intensity of their participation, the impact of their efforts as measured by the rate of comment incorporation, and we explained why some comments are incorporated and others are not. We organized an original data base of the comments made at all ANAC public hearings between 2007 and May 2012. We analyzed 518 comments concerning 48 regulations. To test participant influence, we classified the comments by degree of technicality, economic or legal argument, authorship, and request for regulation. To understand the incorporation process, we used regression models through which we presented evidence that a comment's incorporation is directly related to its degree of technicality. Technical comments, which effectively subsidize the resolution, have a higher chance of being incorporated. Even more than corporate power or its force of participation, the technical quality proved to be the main factor for comment incorporation.http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bpsr/v8n2/1981-3821-bpsr-8-2-0070.pdfPublic hearingsocial participationregulatory agenciesANAClobby
spellingShingle Marcello Fragano Baird
Ivan Filipe de Almeida Lopes Fernandes
Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
Brazilian Political Science Review
Public hearing
social participation
regulatory agencies
ANAC
lobby
title Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
title_full Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
title_fullStr Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
title_full_unstemmed Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
title_short Flying in Clear Skies: Technical Arguments Influencing ANAC Regulations
title_sort flying in clear skies technical arguments influencing anac regulations
topic Public hearing
social participation
regulatory agencies
ANAC
lobby
url http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bpsr/v8n2/1981-3821-bpsr-8-2-0070.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT marcellofraganobaird flyinginclearskiestechnicalargumentsinfluencinganacregulations
AT ivanfilipedealmeidalopesfernandes flyinginclearskiestechnicalargumentsinfluencinganacregulations