Policy
A Previdência Social
Abstract:
The 60’s corresponded to an unequivocal progress in the institutional evolution, material and personal coverage of the Social Welfare system, in which Law 2115, which instituted the 1962 Social Welfare Reform – which was in force as the Basic Law until 1984 – is absolutely central. Statistical data corroborate this statement, and even demonstrate the growth of social spending and the growing role of the State, also as a financer and not with a mere supplementary intervention. A Previdência Social analyses the evolution of Social Welfare in the 60’s, underlining the logic of continuity between Salazar’s and Marcelo Caetano’s government. Based on the Social Welfare Reform, initiated in 1962, progress in terms of personal and material coverage was unequivocal, with the inevitable consequence of a strong growth of social expenditure throughout the decade. To this end, the universalization of the system contributed a lot, with the widening of Welfare to rural areas, already under Marcelo Caetano, which had a significant impact on the system, but also on Portuguese society. The changes in the domain of social policy fulfilled a legitimizing function of the New State in its desired evolution towards a Social State and marked the beginning of convergence with the European Welfare States. We would like to thank Professors João Freire and Álvaro Garrido for reading the initial text of this article and for their relevant contributions to its final version.
Quotation:
“Rodrigues, Cristina & Carolo, Daniel (2020). “A Previdência Social”. In Brito, José Maria Brandão de Brito & Santos, Paula Borges (Coords.) Os Anos Sessenta em Portugal. Duas governações, diferentes políticas públicas. Porto: Afrontamento”
Brief Paper 1/1998: Construccíón Democrática y Gobernabilidad en Africa
Abstract:
African political players are today faced with a double challenge: building democratic regimes and, at the same time, equipping them with governments capable of managing the transformations necessary for development. A close look at this phenomenon reveals that democracy building has generally privileged the electoral dimension of the process rather than the underlying social and political dynamics. Moreover, the adoption of Western democratic standards has generated a certain determinism based on the belief in a linear evolution of African societies towards a model of universal democracy. In this sense, it seems necessary to make a clear distinction between democratic principles and the universality of the model. Accepting the existence of a series of democratic principles of unequivocal validity does not, of course, imply the affirmation of the validity of a model applicable to all societies. Confusion between these two dimensions seems to be at the root of certain tensions, such as that between indigenous forms of political participation and those adopted by constitutional and legislative texts based on Western sources. On the basis of the African democratic experiences of this decade, it is interesting to question the validity of the so-called “Western model” for Africa. Communication at the CESA 1997 Seminar: The Problematic of Development – History and a Transdiciplinary Perspective, Conference Construção Democrática e Contributos Actuais numa Governance em África (Democratic Construction and Current Contributions to Governance in Africa), 23 May 1997.
Quotation:
Comunicação no Seminário CEsA 1997: A Problemática do Desenvolvimento – Historicidade e Contributos Actuais numa Óptica Transdiciplinar, Conferência “Construção Democrática e ‘Governance’ em África”, 23 de Maio de 1997.
