Gabriela Lotta (Fundação Getulio Vargas)

Gabriela Lotta is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). She coordinates the Latin-American network of street-level bureaucracy research and is co-chair of RC27 at IPSA. She has published more than 130 papers in top journals. Lotta received her B.Sc. in public administration and Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of São Paulo. In 2021 she was recognized one of the world's 100 most influential academics in the field of government by the organization Apolitical. In 2026 she received the prize Women in Science from the Brazilian National Research Agency.

Course: Understanding Policy Implementation and Street-level bureaucracy

Policy implementation is a growing field in public administration literature that aims to comprehend transition from "policy as written" to "policy as practiced". Over the last decades the field has developed different concepts and approaches to understand issues as communication, coordination and collaboration among different actors that include clients, street-level bureaucrats and managers. This course aims to introduce students to the literature on policy implementation and the role of state bureaucracies in this process. By analyzing key theoretical and analytical models, students will be introduced to different approaches and understand the actions of street-level bureaucrats during public encounters. Through the exploration of key concepts, approaches, and frameworks, the course offers a comprehensive understanding of policy implementation as a specific component of policy process.