The right of social assistance: the challenge of overcoming clientelistic practices

Abstract

In this paper, we present reflections on the persistence or not of clientelistic practices in the conduct of social assistance policy in Brazil. It was used as a legal frame work the 1988 Federal Constitution, the Organic Law of Social Assistance– “LOAS”, updated by the law that created the “SUAS”, which regulated the social assistance as Social Security Policy, citizen's right Andres possibility of the State. In this sense, clientelistic practices preclude the exercise of citizenship displayed by those laws. The reproduction of clientelismin social assistance policy leads to discussions about the relationship between state and society in Brazil. So, at first, the text attempts to recover the historical particularity of the formation of the Brazilian state through analysis of patrimonialism. As theoretical support, it uses an interdisciplinary approach, based on concepts from the field of sociology, political science, law and the theoretical debate of social service. Secondly, it presents the importance of the 1988 Constitution in the process of social rights’ construction in Brazil and, finally, social assistance and public policy. To develop this article, we used the procedures of literature and documents research. The laws governing social assistance, information obtained from official documents and web sites related to the area indicate significant advances in social assistance in Brazil and in the state of Paraná, mainly in the bureaucratic-formal context. However, the operationalization of the policy is still highlighted in the aspects of clientelistic practices, such as the permanence of the first “ladism” in the management of social assistance in some states and municipalities.