From Abstraction to Objectification: Accounting’s Role in Social and Political Mobilization on the General Rapporteur Amendments (RP9)

Abstract

This study examines how the abstraction-objectification process, facilitated by accounting through the creation of a specific Primary Result (RP) identifier for rapporteur-general amendments (RP9), enabled social and political mobilization, raising questions about the role of the rapporteur-general and the Legislature in the budgetary process of the Brazilian Federal Government. By conducting a thematic analysis of the historical trajectory of RP9, we demonstrate how accounting language structures multiple actions across broad, interconnected arenas, generating contestations regarding relative participation in the Union's public budget. In doing so, we contribute to research exploring the role of the general rapporteur in the Executive-Legislative relationship concerning budgetary matters, engaging with studies that analyze budget reforms and interinstitutional disputes over budgetary leadership. Furthermore, we engage in the production of new meanings for budgetary phenomena in Brazil, expanding the understanding of the complexity of the Executive-Legislative relationship in budgetary issues. We highlight how accounting representations—through RPs and other specific identifiers—not only reflect but also mobilize actions among institutions responsible for budget preparation, execution, and control, as well as within the social context where these actions are reflected and evaluated. This phenomenon, identified in the research as a process of objectification-abstraction-objectification, emerges as a cyclical process that can be further explored in future studies, broadening the understanding of how accounting practices influence the political and social dynamics surrounding public budgeting.