Social policies and power in Brazil

Abstract

What can explain the turning of a social policy into an electoral triumph in the greater part of South America? Or the importing by Arab, African and Asian countries of social programs based on experiments in Brazil? Our argument seeks to support the hypothesis that the cases listed above illustrate both a regional and global trend in which Brazil is the spearhead. After being regarded as “villains” in the 1970s and 1980s, several States have once again found that their social policies are serving as important “escape valves” and strategic instruments of government management. This contemporary dynamic has its roots in factors such as the following: (1) the reprocessing of the demands of the social movements are acting in a transnational manner; (2) there is a greater willingness to accept measures involving international cooperation, with Brazil as the driving-force; (3)“public diplomacy” is being strengthened, as illustrated by Brazil´s foreign policy under the presidency of Lula da Silva.