New dynamic in the social policies? Analyzing the challenge of intersectoral relations at the Brazilian social policy (2003-2010)

• Grant number: 11/05643-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Public Policies
• Principal Investigator: Carolina Raquel Duarte de Mello Justo
• Grantee: Lucas Ambrózio Lopes da Silva
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil's return to democracy, after the promulgation of the Constitution of 1988 and the fiscal crisis of 90 years, social policies have to respond to new demands and operate under a complex logic, what have brought new issues to the government agenda. Thus, it is visible social changes in their looks and core objectives: structures, divisions of responsibilities and practices of intervention have changed. As one of the central institutional changes experienced, the intersectionality - set of formal drawings and practices that seek to overcome the lack of synergy and complementarity between different sectors responsible for public policy - has emerged with increasing force, establishing itself as one of the biggest challenges for public policies management today. The master's research proposal will seek to analyze the intersectionality, taking as a case study the Brazilian "Bolsa Família" program (PBF), trough the analysis of the relationship among the Brazilian social development policies, based on the assumption that the PBF has to face, necessarily, intersectoral coordination challenges. We will take time to divide the period from 2007 to 2010, while making comparisons with earlier and later times. We will also take, as the focus of the intersectional analysis, the administrative structures of the federal government and will study it in several ways: formal/hierarchical, legal/functional, budget and informal. It is noteworthy, too, the project importance for the development of the public policy field, beyond the contribution for composing a Latin American research agenda. (AU)