Universalism and Targeting the Poor: A Dual Approach to Fight Poverty in Brazil (1988-2001)

Abstract

While much of the analyses on cash-transfer programs have focused on the governments of former Brazilian presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, this study shifts the focus to the regional programs developed in Brasilia and Campinas. Their revolutionary initiatives were the basis for this type of social policy. With this specific goal in mind, to undergo an historical study on the genesis of cash-transfer programs in Brazil, the focus of this research is to trace the origins of the convergence point, when the fight against poverty in Brazil aligned universal social rights jointly with a federal cash transfer program (Bolsa Escola).