In this episode of the Review of Democracy podcast, Gabriel Pereira speaks with Gabriela Lotta about Democracy on a Tightrope: Politics and Bureaucracy in Brazil, co-authored with Pedro Abramovay and recently published by Central European University Press.
Drawing on the Brazilian case, the conversation explores the risks that emerge when the relationship between politics and bureaucracy breaks down: on the one hand, the rise of technocratic governance and the “fetishization of meritocracy”; on the other, the erosion of bureaucratic institutions by political leaders.
Through a series of concrete policy cases, Lotta reflects on how these tensions shape democratic governance and what a more productive relationship between political leadership, expertise, and citizen participation might look like—both in Brazil and beyond.
Gabriela Lotta is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil.
The interview was conducted by Gabriel Pereira. Lilit Hakobyan edited the audio file.
