Targeting Within Universalism? The "Bolsa Família" Program and the Social Assistance Field in Brazil

• Published in: Verfassung und Recht in Übersee 2014-01, Vol.47 (1), p.43-61
• Main Author: Coutinho, Diogo R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antipoverty Programs; Brazil; Cash transfers; Cities; Constitutions; Cultural customs; Democracy; Implementation; Income inequality; Interest Groups; Policy Implementation; Poverty; Public policy; Rights; Social control; Social Policy; Social Programs; Universalism; Welfare State
• ISSN: 0506-7286
• DOI: 10.5771/0506-7286-2014-1-43

Since the 1930s Brazil has been slowly building its welfare state. In the wake of struggles and political clashes to ensure rights and revive democracy, the Constitution of 1988 brought about an important shift, as it established economic and social rights and outlined a new legal and institutional framework for social policies. Among other provisions, the new constitution also established specific guidelines for the social assistance field (i.e., a non-contributory universal policy intended to meet basic needs through offering of public services and payment of income). Early in the 2000 s, concurrently with the creation of the new social assistance system, the Bolsa Família Program (BFP), a conditioned cash transfer program, was created and launched. Compared to the track record of Brazilian social policies, the BFP adopted new management tools, instruments and methods and has accounted for a portion of the 'equity gains' Brazil has experienced since 2001. This paper analyzes the BFP from the point of view of its political and institutional arrangement — that is, the set of rules, organizations and processes that define the way stakeholders and interests are coordinated in the implementation of a specific public policy. In particular, it considers the program from the perspective of its dynamic relationship with the social assistance field, discussing the connection between the political and institutional arrangements of these two policies "at the bottom" (i.e., at a local level) and on the "top" (i.e., at a federal level). To do that, it draws on the categories of administrative capabilities (associated with the measure of effectiveness) and political capabilities (associated with the measure of legitimacy). The assumption is that the BFP has an ambivalent relationship with the social assistance policy — although it has an autonomous institutional arrangement, the BFP assumes a hybrid nature at the local level with social assistance, especially in small and underprivileged towns. In other words, the BFP largely depends on the social assistance framework to be institutionalized in most Brazilian cities, although it is quite insulated from the social assistance framework at the federal level of management (the "top"). In view ofthat, the author argues that stronger coordination and synergy between the BFP and the field of social assistance — the idea of targeting within universalism — demands further attention and orchestration in Brazil.