Since financial liberalization in the 1980s, non-profit maximizing, stakeholder-oriented banks have outperformed private banks in Europe. This article draws on empirical research, banking theory and theories of the firm to explain this apparent anomaly for neo-liberal policy and contemporary market-based banking theory. The realization of competitive advantages by alternative banks (savings banks, cooperative banks and development banks) has significant implications for conceptions of bank change, regulation and political economy.

Este trabalho discute as relações entre a presidência brasileira e os outros poderes da União durante a segunda gestão FHC de 1999 a 2002. A hipótese central é de que a crescente separação dos poderes, apontada por vários autores desde a Constituição de 1988, também caracteriza processos importantes ocorridos durante essa gestão de FHC. Argumentamos que esse processo empírico exige uma reavaliação de conceitos sobre a democracia brasileira e que teorias "separacionistas" de poder e governo oferecem novas perspectivas para o estudo das instituições políticas brasileiras.

This paper discusses the relationship between the Brazilian Presidency and other Union powers during Fernando Henrique Cardoso's second term in office, from 1999 to 2002. The central hypotheses is that the growing separation of powers, highlighted by various researchers since the 1988 Constitution, also characterizes important processes, which took place during this time. It is argued that this empirical process demands a reevaluation of concepts on Brazilian democracy and that theories that separate power and government offer new perspectives for the study of Brazilian political institutions.