A demanda por serviços socioassistenciais e a burocracia da Assistência Social dos municípios brasileiros

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamics of the execution of social assistance services of basic protection in the Brazilian municipalities analyzing from the perspective of the bureaucracy that executes them and their potential demand. The aim was to identify the extent to which the execution of these services is a function of the configuration and work capacity of those who execute them or of the demand expression of those who receive or have the potential to receive them. The classic Weberian hypothesis states that the greater capacity of the implementing bureaucracy, in terms of formalization and qualification, leads to greater and better results in terms of the execution of public services. However, based on discussions about street-level bureaucracies and their power to influence public policy outcomes by exercising their discretion, it is argued here that the potential demand processed by these bureaucracies is an impulse factor for the implementation of services. A case study of these social assistance services in Brazil was carried out in order to investigate the interactions between the execution of the services, the social-street-level bureaucracy configurations and the expressions of the potential demand for these services. The main results suggest that the potential demand, in fact, determines more the execution of the services than the qualification, formalization and stability of the bureaucracy. This leads to the conclusion that, in addition to working capacity, in dealing with bureaucracies that work directly with citizens, it is necessary to look at factors that reflect interactions with potential demand for public services - such as discretion.