Cooperative federalism in obstruction: Intergovernmental crash in the pandemic

Abstract

This article aims to show that the expectation of a robust and effective response to the sanitary and economic damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, through the strengthening of the institutional culture of cooperative federalism, was frustrated. The result has been related to the violation of subnational autonomy by the Federal Government, which has obstructed a historical movement of decentralization and cooperative federalism, fostering litigation and preventing the construction of coordinated institutional strategies with shared responsibilities.