Brazilian welfare policy: relations between State, policymakers, and customers. An analytical instrument for the formulation of policies

Abstract

The aim of this article is coming to a methodology which concentrates on the connection between the process of social change and the ideas developed by theorists in order
to explain this process (reciprocal relation). For this aim to be reached, and in order that it can be explained how and why specific policy paradigms attain hegemony, it's necessary to be more aware not just of the mechanisms by way of which social needs are transformed into demands, and of how needs are manufactured, but also of the specific forms that these mechanisms acquire in the sectors/subsectors under consideration (in this case, the welfare policy). This methodology of analysis of the transformation of needs into demands, and of the manufacture of needs shows that the work issue arises whenever the formation of the social policy is focused. By formation, we mean the process through which the mIes of
participation are established and made explicit to the different social groups in question. These mIes have been examined in a case study of a specific social policy - the Brazilian policy for children, young people, and families. What has emerged from this analysis is that participation is attained through channels.