Tracking the Attention Deficit: Defense Policy in Brazil’s Congress (1988–2019)

This study revisits the concept of “attention deficit” in Brazil’s defense policy by analyzing legislative and executive policies from 1988 to 2019 using data from the Brazilian Policy Agendas Project. Although defense-related proposals have increased over time—particularly after the creation of the Ministry of Defense in 1999 and key congressional reforms—this growth has not translated into higher approval rates or broader policy engagement. Findings reveal a persistent gap between agenda-setting and decision-making: most proposals do not become law, and those that do are concentrated in just a few subtopics, such as general policy and military personnel. The study also assesses whether institutional strengthening in Congress and rising defense budgets have mitigated this deficit. Results show that neither enhanced legislative autonomy nor increased defense spending has led to greater thematic diversity or policy output. Importantly, the analysis captures aggregate political attention to defense without distinguishing between Executive and Legislative authorship, focusing instead on system-level patterns of engagement. The paper concludes that the attention deficit in defense policymaking persists, sustained by weak civilian oversight, institutional inertia, and symbolic rather than substantive engagement.