Federative cooperation and the health policy: the case of Inter-municipal Health Consortiums in Paraná

Abstract The objective of this paper is to discuss and evaluate factors that have hindered or facilitated a “horizontal cooperation” for the production of public policies in the area of health. Specifically, it aims to analyze the factors that enabled the dissemination of Inter-municipal Health Consortiums in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Viewing the institutionalization of federative cooperation as a way of stabilizing rules and processes, the question that will guide the study is to investigate how, over time, the actors, their interests and their problem agendas have focused on inter-municipal cooperation in the production of health policies.