[social Cohesion And Regional Integration: The Mercosur Social Agenda And The Integrationist Social Policy Major Challenges].

In the consolidation of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), social policies are still in the embryonic stage. However, since the latter half of the 1990s there has been a speedup in the creation of institutions dedicated to such policies with the Common Market's framework. This article focuses on health policy and the broader social policy system in order to identify the reasons for the imbalance, through three movements: reconstitution of the history of the institutional construction of social policies in MERCOSUR; identification and comparison of the successive strategies for the formulation and implementation of the social integration agenda; and reflection on the current dilemmas and challenges faced by the process. According to the study, MERCOSUR operates with strategies that are difficult to mutually reconcile. On the institutional level, it follows a minimalist strategy, while on the conceptual/ discursive level it adopts a maximalist strategy for supranational unification of social policies. The fact is that it operates a minimalist social policy strategy, since it fails to bring to the field of social integration the debate and proposals on economic and social development models that could sustain the effective construction of regional social citizenship.23 Suppl 2S174-8

Social cohesion and regional integration: the MERCOSUR social agenda and the integrationist social policy major challenges

In the consolidation of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), social policies are still in the embryonic stage. However, since the latter half of the 1990s there has been a speedup in the creation of institutions dedicated to such policies with the Common Market's framework. This article focuses on health policy and the broader social policy system in order to identify the reasons for the imbalance, through three movements: reconstitution of the history of the institutional construction of social policies in MERCOSUR; identification and comparison of the successive strategies for the formulation and implementation of the social integration agenda; and reflection on the current dilemmas and challenges faced by the process. According to the study, MERCOSUR operates with strategies that are difficult to mutually reconcile. On the institutional level, it follows a minimalist strategy, while on the conceptual/ discursive level it adopts a maximalist strategy for supranational unification of social policies. The fact is that it operates a minimalist social policy strategy, since it fails to bring to the field of social integration the debate and proposals on economic and social development models that could sustain the effective construction of regional social citizenship.As políticas sociais se encontram em estágio ainda embrionário nos processos constitutivos do MERCOSUL. Entretanto, desde a segunda metade dos anos 1990, acelerou-se o processo de construção das instituições a elas dedicadas no interior do sistema institucional do mercado comum. Tendo por foco a política de saúde e mais amplamente o sistema de políticas sociais, o artigo rastreia as razões do desequilíbrio através de três movimentos: a reconstituição da trajetória de construção institucional do MERCOSUL social; a identificação e confronto das sucessivas estratégias de formulação e implantação da agenda social da integração; e a reflexão sobre os dilemas e desafios que hoje cercam o tema. O estudo permite afirmar que o MERCOSUL opera com estratégias de difícil conciliação. No plano institucional, orienta-se por uma estratégia minimalista, enquanto que no plano conceitual/discursivo, maneja a estratégia maximalista da unificação supranacional das políticas sociais. O fato é que opera uma estratégia minimalista de políticas sociais, uma vez que abdica de trazer para o campo da integração social o debate e a proposição de modelos de desenvolvimento econômico e social que possam sustentar o processo efetivo de constituição da cidadania social regional.S174S18

A política social no período FHC e o sistema de proteção social

Este artigo examina os efeitos das reformas da política social no período Cardoso sobre as instituições do sistema de proteção social. Para isso, concentra-se em três grupos de programas: os universais, de saúde e educação; os de proteção ao trabalho e amparo no desemprego; e os programas de combate à pobreza. Estado ou mercado? Emprego e renda ou política social? Universalismo ou focalização? Consideram-se tais disjuntivas inadequadas para descrever o projeto e as medidas implementadas. O reforço dos programas públicos, universais e gratuitos, de saúde e educação conviveu com a introdução do sinal do mercado no campo do trabalho e com a orientação de focalizar no universal, para melhorar o impacto distributivo das políticas. Isso não alterou a orientação básica do sistema de proteção social. Entretanto, a ênfase nos programas de transferência monetária às famílias pobres, ocorrida ao final do segundo mandato, foi um desvio do projeto original do governo e uma mudança no sistema tradicional de proteção.<br>This paper examines the effects of the social policy reforms on the institutions of the system of social protection during Cardoso's government. In order to do this, it focuses on three groups of programs: the universal, health and education; those of labor protection and unemployment benefits; and the programs to eradicate poverty. State or market? Employment and income or social policy? Universalism or focus? Such disjunctives are considered inadequate to describe the project and the implemented measures. The reinforcement of universal and free public programs, of health and education, cohabited with the introduction of market signals in the work-field and with the instruction to focus on the universal so as to improve the distribution impact of the policies. This did not alter the basic directives of the social protection system. However, the emphasis on programs of monetary transference to impoverished families, that took place during the second term in office, was a detour from the original government project and a change in the traditional protection scheme