Presentation

The Postgraduate Program in Public Management and International Cooperation's mission is to contribute to the improvement of public management in Brazil, with an emphasis on the northeast region. With this purpose, the program seeks, through an innovative methodology and a multidisciplinary teaching staff, to train high-level professionals having a strategic vision of public management and international cooperation as part of knowledge-oriented to the promotion of regional development from public action.

The Program

In Brazil, particularly in the North and Northeast regions, there is a shortage of professionals with expanded and in-depth training in the management of public organizations, as well as in the implementation, conduct, and evaluation of public policies. Additionally, and considering that these activities are no longer restricted to local environments, it is necessary to train professionals with a broad view of the global scenario, in which the relationships between the different actors and agents involved in projects, actions, and public policies are established.

Based on these assumptions, by inserting the International Cooperation component in dialogue with Public Management, it is expected to contribute with a unique formation that allows the graduate to understand how the contemporary State interacts uniquely with the international spheres of governance. It is about understanding and analyzing how, in the current world, a huge number of domestic public policies arise from initiatives discussed in international forums. Examples are the policies implemented by developed and developing nations in the health sector, led by WHO (World Health Organization), in the food and agricultural sector, led by FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization), in the development area, influenced by several institutions such as the WTO (World Trade Organization) and the World Bank. Furthermore, this proposal will also provide the graduate with the possibility of understanding public policies implemented by international organizations, such as humanitarian actions in regions plagued by armed conflicts, food assistance policies for areas of extreme poverty, technical cooperation with governments and states, among other public policies implemented and managed by international agencies to strengthen the state.

The academic areas of public management and international cooperation, as well as the other areas, were affected by the changes in academic, scientific, and operational paradigms of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Therefore, adopting ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions of an academic view appropriate to contemporary times is essential to the success of actions linked to public management and international cooperation processes. In this sense, the creation of PGPCI is justified by the possibility of contributing to the training of professionals to work at a higher level (something particularly necessary in the Northeast, given the great expansion of the higher education network and the lack of professors with a master's and doctorate degrees) and for the development of advanced research (considering the possibility of building interdisciplinary research projects reflecting on the regional dimension without losing reference to the global scenario.

Investigation Strands of the Postgraduate Program

Investigation areas of the PGPCI correspond to the specialization field of Public Management and International Cooperation. Aligned with the design of the studies of General Administration and Public Administration, according to the construction implemented in Brazil, the PGPCI concentration area is multidisciplinary since it brings together approaches from the human and social sciences applied in the public sector, but with a complementary emphasis in the international context. The proposed concentration presupposes, therefore, the adoption of multiple theoretical-methodological approaches, which converge from a concept of training that integrates the domains of theoretical, epistemological, and methodological knowledge, teaching, and research practice, written production and of the practical universe. All of them are applied to the understanding and practice of public management and international cooperation, with an emphasis on promoting good governance practices, international cooperation networks, and the development of sustainable public policies.

Line 1: International Cooperation

This line is dedicated to studying International Cooperation in its theoretical, historical, and operational aspects in an integrated manner, whether bilateral or multilateral, to deepen knowledge about the reasons for success or failure of Cooperation opportunities and projects between foreign political units. From a theoretical point of view, the processes and cooperation between States and their subunits on the international stage are studied, besides theories on integration and regional and global governance. At the historical level, it focuses on the various international models and systems of Cooperation, integration, and governance and how they are inserted in the debates on the process of formulating public policies at the domestic level, considering contextual issues, negotiating processes, and results achieved. In the operational field, mechanisms to formulate international cooperation policies are researched, focusing on regulatory frameworks, legal, and administrative processes and analyzing the influence of the various actors and interests that convert bilateral projects and multilateral organizations into national and international public policies. The line favors studies on International Cooperation practiced by Brazil at the administrative levels at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

Line 2: Governmental and Social Management

Line 3: Public Policies

This line of research provides the opportunity to generate knowledge about public policy cycles in federal environments, by providing subsidies for increasing the institutional capacities of local, regional, and national governments. The actions of study, teaching, and research in this line will contribute to the development of institutional policy designs that are capable of mitigating barriers between the successful allocation of public resources and the effectiveness of state actions, at the municipal, state, regional, and national levels. Some topics involving the line include models for formulating, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and making public policy decisions; federalism and public policy systems, regulatory agencies and implementation of public services; impacts of public policies on the internationalization of the State; quantitative and qualitative methods applied to the study of government management and public policies. It also analyzes the implications of globalization on public policies.

Objectives of PGPCI:

The PGPCI's mission is to train professionals with theoretical and analytical skills, a critical view of the development models under debate in the local, regional, national, and international context, through the production of knowledge of public management and international governance, with an emphasis on public policies, in governmental and social management, and international cooperation processes, using innovative research and teaching methodologies, which promote the development of skills to act in research, teaching, and in the practice of public management at national and international levels, occupying positions in the State and acting as society transformation agents. The objectives proposed for the Master's Program are as follows:

l   Contribute to the improvement of the vision and practices of public management at the regional, national, and international levels;

l   Contribute to the improvement of the modeling, implementation, and management of public policies (planning, implementation, and evaluation) in Brazil, especially in the State of Paraíba and the Northeast region;

l   Develop research of high impact on public and social interest at national and international level in the lines of research of the Program;

l   To train postgraduate professionals to work in teaching and research in Public Management and International Cooperation in higher education institutions;

l   Contribute to innovative training that enables an ability to act internationally through international cooperation and public management projects in international organizations.

Profile of the professional to be trained by the Program:

The professionals trained by the Program must develop the following skills:

-   Know the state of the art of research and academic and professional theory on public management and international cooperation;

-   Develop studies on the Program's lines of research using appropriate and consistent methodological tools;

-   Acting and leading an academic project in higher education institutions, using innovative teaching, research, and extension strategies in public management and international cooperation;

-   Develop professional skills in advising or leading projects, organizations, and public policies at the regional, national, and international levels;

-   Develop an internationalized vision, which allows the professional to know the particularities of public policies of an intergovernmental nature and multilateral organizations.

Total credits to receive the degree

Considering the credit system implemented at UFPB (15 hours for theoretical credit and 30 hours for practical credit), for the master's degree, the student must take 32 credits, 15 credits in compulsory subjects, 1 credit for teaching internship, and 16 credits in elective subjects.

Academic course organization

The academic-scientific training of future masters trained in the PCPCI is designed according to a vision of competencies, dimensioned in six global competencies and sub-competencies. The competencies in six dimensions are as follows:

-   Epistemological and methodological knowledge dimension: involves the subjects and activities aimed at understanding the nature of the knowledge produced in applied social sciences, the development of practical research-building capacities, and the ability to apply quantitative methodologies and qualitative research in empirical works in the concentration area of the Program:

-   Theoretical knowledge dimension: involves the subjects and activities developed for the formation of knowledge of the central themes, concepts, approaches, and theoretical views of the concentration area and lines of research;

-   Knowledge of teaching practice dimension: involves the subjects of theoretical discussion about teaching at a higher level, as well as the performance of practical exercise activities for the teaching performance of the master's student;

-   Knowledge of written production dimension: involves activities aimed at preparing students to produce content and materials related to their performance as a professor (teaching cases, class notes...), and as a researcher (papers, position papers, dissertations...).

-   Research practice knowledge dimension: involves the subjects and activities of real research practice for the construction of reports for different purposes, particularly articles and master's dissertations;

-   Knowledge of professional practice dimension: involves the subjects and activities of the concrete experience of actions in public or social organizations, considering, especially, the line of studies of the student to his/her training project.

 These competence dimensions formed from subjects, compulsory activities, and other actions to be undertaken (seminars, international articulation, and other programs, etc.).

Compulsory courses

 * The credit system implemented at UFPB stipulates 15 hours for theoretical credit and 30 hours for practical credit.

** Department responsible: DA – Administration Department (DA/CCSA); DGP – Department of Public Management (DGP/CCSA); DRI – Department of International Relations (DRI/CCSA).

 * All credits are theoretical.

Public Policy

 * All credits are theoretical

Government and Social Management