In the 1930s, during the authoritarian government of Getulio Vargas, the Brazilian civil service reform movement began. Thirty-five years later, the actual administrative practices of the country did not adequately reflect the philosophy underlying this movement, a philosophy drawn from the reform experience and public administration theories of the United States and Western Europe. This book examines why these ideas, when transplanted to another cultural setting, did not take root and, further, why they unexpectedly proved to be most applicable in Brazil during periods of autocratic...