The lobbying mechanisms of influence on the constitutionalization of social rights in the Venezuelan drafting process of 1999

• Grant number: 24/20832-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - State and Government
• Principal Investigator: Lucas Nascimento Ferraz Costa
• Grantee: Victor Gabriel da Silva Santos Megia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/13511-0 - Social constitutionalism in a compared perspective: under which conditions are social rights constitutionalized?, AP.JP

Abstract

The Venezuelan constituent process of 1999 simultaneously represents a case of (1) high constitutionalization of social rights (CSR), driven by a constituent assembly largely favorable to advancing this agenda, and (2) intense lobbying activity in favor of CSR. This type of case, in turn, illustrates one of the categories of the lobbying influence model developed by the JP Project, namely, cases of positive political disposition (towards CSR), referred to as W+ situations combined with intense lobbying activity. Our hypothesis regarding these cases asserts that, although the decision-makers were already inclined towards CSR, lobbying influences positively impact the Constitutional Social Score (CSS). This occurs because lobbyists provide technical information which, once appropriated by the constituents, results in an expansion of CSR. The objective of this project is to select one of the seven groups of social rights that constitute the Constitutional Social Score Model (CSSM) and analyze, through a process tracing approach, the lobbying mechanism adopted by interest groups aiming to expand CSR. This mechanism will serve as the basis for evaluating the results of the PA/MS 1 research, comparing them with the causal mechanisms identified through qualitative research.