The path of Brazilian social assistance policy post-1988: the significance of institutions and ideas

Abstract

This paper analyzes the construction of the social assistance policy at the federal level in Brazil over the last two decades. It focuses on the Federal Constitution of 1988 and subsequent infra-constitutional legislation, especially that enacted during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) administrations, which showed very different conceptions of social policy. For both administrations, we analyze the consequences of the institutional changes and legal framework introduced as well as the social policy ideas that informed them.It is argued that the construction of social assistance in Brazil demanded much more than the constitutional provisions enacted in 1988. It included the entire set of subsequent constitutional legislation, a process in which the ruling party played a critical role. Categories of neo-institutionalism and the method of process tracing, plus in-depth interviews with relevant actors, were employed. Our findings point to the impact of the interaction between institutional structures, like constitutions and policy legacies, and the political projects of governing parties. Constitutional provisions, even if not bound to a policy, can prevent setbacks and anchor the action of pressure groups. They can also allow progressive administration to change the status quo.

Multi-level governance in federal contexts: the Social Assistance Policy in the City of São Paulo

“…At the federal level, a link between more progressive governments and agendas that favor the state provision of services has been identified, particularly when we compare Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Lula's administrations (ALMEIDA, 2004;SÁTYRO and CUNHA, 2014). However, in the case of São Paulo, it is not possible to make such a direct association.…”

“…This idea is particularly relevant to leftist governments (ALMEIDA, 2004;SÁTYRO and CUNHA, 2014) that advocate for a more intense participation of the state not only in the regulation of CSOs, but also in the direct provision of services. Although the national normative acts on social assistance establish co-responsibility and complementary relations between state and non-state actors, these definitions are not consensual, and there are disputes concerning the meanings of 'state responsibility', 'co-responsibility' and the role of CSOs 7 .…”

The transformative capacity of the Brazilian federal government in building a social welfare bureaucracy in the municipalities

“…Funding may have played a strong role, but we still consider that all aspects listed are necessary conditions for this result, despite being insufficient on their own to cause it. However, it is possible to infer that the absence of any of these factors would constitute a sufficient condition for the negation of the result, that is, for the non-structuring of a service provision system at the local level with its own bureaucracy, which has as a real counterfactual case the welfare policy developed during the administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Sátyro and Cunha, 2014).…”

How instrument constituencies shape policy transfer: a case study from Ghana

“…Brazil's cash transfer program as it operates today is the culmination of numerous discussions about social assistance policy beginning in the 1980s (Fenwick, 2013(Fenwick, , 2016Lindert, Linder, Hobbs, & de la Brière, 2007;Sátyro & Cunha, 2014). In 1995, the first two 'local' conditional cash transfers became operational.…”