Resilience and permanence of public values: an analysis of administrative contracts in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract This article analyzes the resilience of the public values in the Brazilian public administration’s management models, considering the rules adopted in administrative contracts. This sociological research argues that such public values reflect society’s normative and cultural standards. The study’s theoretical relevance lies in its contribution to understanding the cultural dimension of Brazilian society, recognizing that the law reflects normative standards given the environment in which it is elaborated and enforced. In practice, the study seeks to foster the comprehension of rules, their purposes, and the public ethos that gives identity to the administration. The values attributed to the management models observed in a historical framework were dialogicity, modernization, efficiency, productivity, and professionalization. Finally, administrative contracts are technologies with characteristics of historical models of public management and represent a normative standard that needs improvements.