The financial dimension of state capacity and municipal management

an analysis of the recent housing policy in João Pessoa/PB

Abstract

Recognizing that the Federal Constitution of 1988 defined municipalities as autonomous entities of the Federation and that housing came to be considered a policy of common competence among the different levels of government, this article addresses state's capacity to produce housing policy, having as an analytical focus the municipal government. It aims to apprehend the relationship between the financial dimension of state capacity at the municipal level and the local development of social interest housing policy. For this, it analyses the municipality of João Pessoa / PB, a Brazilian city with a low degree of financial autonomy, emphasizing its budgetary and financial execution in the Housing Programmatic Function in the recent period. The following methodological procedures were used: (a) literature review on state capacity, cooperative federalism and housing policy; (b) electronic research carried out in the databases of Finbra / National Treasury, of the Sagres System of the Court of Auditors of the State of Paraíba (TCE-PB) and in the web portal of Caixa Econômica Federal, aiming to support the examination of the financial dimension of state capacity at the municipal level to produce housing policy. The results indicate the dependence of the municipal management on external sources of funds and, consequently, on the planning and development of housing policy. Onerous operations have a remarkable role on the financing of housing and slum upgrading projects and the municipality presented low capacity with regards to budget execution in the housing function.