Legislature and development: an analysis of parliamentarians propositions of the Tocantins State

Abstract

The establishment of the state of Tocantins was based on a strong argument that the political and administrative emancipation would take the north of the state of Goiás, at the time, to achieve its development. Considering this presupposition, the deputies representing the region engaged in studies, discussions and nonpartisan partnerships to seek the approval of the new state creation project together with the publishing of the 1988 Federal Constitution. This article aims to investigate how far the same legislative power, in fact has been contributing to the development of Tocantins, since its creation. In this study, we used the institutional approach, which positions itself in order to demonstrate that institutions matter and can influence or even determine the development process of a region. From this perspective, the focus of this research was the role of the legislative power. Therefore, it was held a content analysis of the propositions of the Tocantins´ deputies, based on a sample that contained the first year of each term (1989, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011). The research´s results pointed out that most of the analyzed propositions do not relate to actions for the economic and social development of the state of Tocantins.