Articulação de interesses do empresariado industrial no processo de produção da regulação ambiental: convergências e divergências

Abstract

The incorporation of the environmental issue to both national and international political agendas caused increasing political mobilization among Brazilian entrepreneurs. The result has been changing priorities in their political lobbying. Governmental agencies and Congress became the target for entrepreneurial pressure whenever environmental regulation was the subject. Following the trend of growing restrictive rules the participation of business organizations in policymaking processes became mandatory in order to minimizing the economic impact of protective environmental legislation on productive investment. In order to maximize their political influence they developed professional lobbying in Congress and in the National Environment Council CONAMA. Based on their performance in both political arenas the following questions were posed as guidelines for research: to what extent are the industrial entrepreneurs relevant political actors in the making of Brazilian environmental policy? How much influence do they muster in the processes of formulation of environmental regulation? These are the main questions addressed by the research here presented. The study shows that the present institutional framework strengthens corporate interest representation and defines new forms of interaction between the State and the industrial entrepreneurs which enhances their ability to influence policymaking. The institutionalist approach and assumptions taken from the theory of rational choice were used to build the interpretive framework employed in the analysis of empirical data.