Description
This paper presents a comparative qualitative analysis of paradiplomatic practices carried out by subnational governments in Brazil and Germany between 2019 and 2025. It investigates how the relationship between subnational and federal governments shapes paradiplomatic activities and the capacity of subnational entities to engage internationally. The study centers on two case studies: (a) subnational international actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and (b) subnational engagement in environmental diplomacy. A “most-different systems” comparative design contrasts two federal contexts with distinct institutional structures, political traditions, and trajectories of intergovernmental coordination. The research draws on both primary and secondary sources, including the systematic analysis of official documents, policy reports, legal frameworks, and semi-structured interviews with subnational and federal actors engaged in international cooperation. This methodological approach allows for within-case and cross-case analyses, identifying mechanisms that facilitate or constrain paradiplomatic agency and clarifying how intergovernmental relations shape international participation, negotiation, and coordination among politically diverse actors operating across multiple policy domains.
The findings reveal contrasting dynamics. During the pandemic, Brazilian states and regional consortia—such as the Northeast Consortium—acted autonomously to procure vaccines and medical supplies, often in direct opposition to the denialist stance of the Bolsonaro administration. In Germany, by contrast, crisis management relied on strong coordination between federal and state levels, ensuring an effective and coherent response. Beyond the pandemic, the study examines environmental diplomacy. In Brazil, the Northeast and Legal Amazon consortia emerged as key actors defending environmental policies and re-establishing international partnerships. In Germany, while environmental strategies have reflected cooperative governance, growing tensions have surfaced as subnational entities—particularly in Bavaria and other so-called “anti-climate regions”—resist implementing federal climate commitments, generating disputes within the national agenda and challenging foreign policy. By comparing these experiences, the paper demonstrates how subnational actors simultaneously resist and reinforce federal policies, reshaping the state’s role in contemporary politics.
