Our resources thrust participants into the heart of real-world scenarios, from crisis management in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic to cross-party education reform in Brazil.
Many of our resources are available on The Case Centre distribution platform. Educators who are registered with the site can access free review copies of our case studies, teaching notes, and other materials.
To inquire about our other cases or background materials, please contact us at casecentre@bsg.ox.ac.uk.
Chile’s balancing act: fiscal responsibility and emergency spending during Covid-19
Over successive governments, Chile had built a strong reputation for fiscal discipline, but recent social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic had put pressure on the government to relax strict rules on spending. Finance Minister Ignacio Briones needed to determine the level and financing of a substantial new Covid-relief package while ensuring the country remained able to respond to future emergencies and without undermining the country’s already weakening commitment to fiscal responsibility.
This case allows students to explore both the practice and the politics of government accounting.
Please note: this case study is also available as an interactive digital case. To access this version, please email casecentre@bsg.ox.ac.uk.
- Learn, apply and evaluate the principles of accrual-basis accounting in government accounting;
- Understand the challenges and opportunities of building and sustaining a culture of fiscal responsibility;
- Develop strategies for building support for difficult decisions during crises.
The migrant crisis in Boa Vista, Brazil
The Brazilian municipality of Boa Vista experienced a huge influx of Venezuelan migrants in the 2010s. By 2018, its public services were overloaded, and a measles outbreak, traced back to a Venezuelan child, was spreading quickly. Mayor Teresa Surita had prioritised integrating Venezuelans into the community, but faced a dilemma as the measles cases spread and anti-immigrant sentiment started to rise. Should she recalibrate her strategy?
Since 2016, Boa Vista, a small municipality in Brazil’s remote north, had seen a massive rise of immigration from Venezuela. As of 2018, public services were overloaded, political polarisation was widening, and a measles outbreak, which started in an immigrant community, was spreading quickly throughout the city. The mayor, Teresa Surita, had attempted to integrate Venezuelans into the city, primarily using schools as a vehicle to build understanding across communities. But as the locals became more anxious and agitated, the mayor had to decide if she should recalibrate her strategy.
- Analyse how leaders in polarised societies respond to public anger;
- Equip leaders with the skills to respond to the public’s shifting expectations of leadership.
Education reform in Brazil: an enduring coalition?
In March 2017, Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro, the executive secretary at the Ministry of Education in Brazil, was preparing to send the final draft of a new national framework for education to the National Council of Education, the body with the deciding vote. The process of drafting the reform had been long and challenging. Even the idea of national educational standards in Brazil was a contentious one, between those who believed standards would reduce the country’s deep educational inequality and those who thought that schools and local governments were best placed to make decisions about teaching.
Despite the opposition, pro-standards forces had managed to create and maintain a broad coalition of experts, foundations, and politicians from across the political spectrum, and had shepherded the drafting process through years of extreme political upheaval. However, just as the draft was about to be published, members of the influential evangelical caucus approached the ministry leadership with a list of changes they wanted the ministry to adopt. If Castro refused, the consequences for the president’s legislative agenda could be dire; but if she agreed, she risked alienating many of the framework’s supporters and the fragile coalition might disintegrate. Years of careful negotiation – and the reform itself – were in jeopardy.
This case study steps into this dangerous moment for the reform and asks students to weigh up the complex political and ethical issues at stake.
- Understand techniques for building legitimacy and their application during a policy change process;
- Recognise the tools of building and maintaining coalitions, and consider when such tools are suitable and legitimate;
- Explore and communicate subjective values regarding ‘common core’ education policies.