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This paper analyzes the quantitative changes in the number of servers of some State Careers of the federal executive branch between 2012 and 2022. Thus, they were divided into four groups of direct administration civil careers that carry out similar activities and are commonly classified as typical of the state: Public Security, Legal, Inspection, and Public Management. Based on surveys carried out by the Statistical Panel of Federal Government Personnel, it was concluded that, during the period, the careers of the selected Public Security group grew strongly (+24%) and surpassed the selected Inspection careers in number of employees (-27%), which were reduced in a similar proportion. Individually, the careers that grew the most were Federal Highway Police (34%) and Foreign Trade Analyst (78%). The careers of Tax Auditor of the Federal Revenue and Labour Tax Auditor were the ones that declined the most, losing almost a third of their active servants each (33% and 33%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the process of the State's modernization in Brazil, associating it with the concept of the State's capacity, in particular the professionalization of the federal bureaucracy in charge of conceiving and implementing public policies. The article concludes that, despite multiple mechanisms having been used by different governments and political regimes to recruit their bureaucracies, the federal Executive has always been capable of generating the capacity to implement the policies of its choice. Over the past two decades, however, the federal Executive has preferred to recruit its bureaucracy primarily through public sector entrance examinations. As result, Brazil today has a consolidated bureaucracy that is involved in overseeing rules, procedures and fiscal controls, but that is still incomplete in some areas of public policy. These new features of the federal bureaucracy suggest that certain characteristics of the Weberian bureaucracy have indeed been created but others are still awaiting institutionalization, which therefore affects the capacity of the State in implementing certain policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]