Lo Stato regolatore in Brasile tra tradizione francese e modelli anglosassoni: evoluzione costituzionale, regolazione economica e servizi pubblici

The paper examines the evolution of the regulatory state in Brazil, focusing on the transformation of the public role in the economy and the regulation of public services following the 1988 Federal Constitution. Drawing on the main contributions of Brazilian and European legal scholarship, it investigates how Brazil progressively moved beyond the interventionist model by redefining the State as regulator, supervisor and guarantor of the public interest rather than as a direct economic operator. The analysis argues that this transformation does not simply reflect the adoption of a neoliberal model but results from the interaction between the French administrative law tradition, the theory of public service, Anglo-Saxon New Public Management and the U.S. model of independent regulatory agencies. Through an examination of the constitutional framework, independent regulatory authorities and the principles governing public services, the paper shows how the Brazilian regulatory model seeks to reconcile market freedom, users' protection and the effective safeguarding of fundamental rights.