Author:

Ana Claudia Santano

Introduction:

In a society marked by mistrust, the fight against public mismanagement must necessarily begin with a closer relationship between the Public Administration and its citizens. Simultaneously, a shift in mindset is needed regarding the objectives of the Public Administration, which, by its very nature, faces numerous obstacles in the reality in which it operates. In this sense, the drafting of a new Administrative Law places the citizen, the individual, at the heart of the Administration’s existence, moving beyond the passive and submissive role of a power that attempts to control them, dictate what is good or bad, and eliminate the fear inspired by this apparatus, replete with privileges and prerogatives derived from state domination. Thus, in the new Administrative Law, the Public Administration does not inherently enjoy a position of supremacy that allows it to act excessively. Its powers must be expressly defined, and in exceptional cases, there must be a proportional justification for the discretionary power exercised, guaranteeing an objective service to the public interest. Based on this premise, Jaime Rodríguez-Arana Muñoz theorizes the fundamental right to good administration, which consists of acting, in all cases, in the service of the public interest, with the citizen as the beneficiary of the Public Administration and public policies. This article will be structured around this point. Although the notion of a fundamental right to good administration was developed within the Spanish constitutional framework, its application to other systems, such as the Brazilian one, is understood to be perfectly possible. Therefore, the objective is to identify, albeit briefly, some existing obstacles to this participation in the Public Administration in the Brazilian context, more specifically with regard to lobbying and the political appointment of high-ranking officials in regulatory bodies.