The state institutionalisation of social assistance policy

The trajectory of social assistance in Brazil as a public policy began with the enactment of the 1988 Federal Constitution and the Organic Law on Social Assistance (1993). Also noteworthy was the creation of the Unified Social Assistance System (2005), considered the pinnacle of the regulation of this policy in the country. Since then, there have been changes in the way the policy is conceived and in the establishment of parameters for the supply, coverage and institutional organisation of this sector. Based on an institutionalist perspective, this paper aims to analyse the institutionalisation of social assistance policy in the Brazilian states. Our key concept materialises in the creation and consolidation of secretariats or specific bodies for the management of this area, as well as in initiatives that complement the actions of the Federal Government in relation to this field of public policy.