Welfare State and Epistemic Communities of Fiscal Austerity in Brazil: from Lula da Silva to Jair Bolsonaro (2003-2020)

Abstract

This article is based on a theoretical-conceptual framework and empirically grounded
research to analyze the construction of discourse and institutional insertion of ideas from epistemic
communities of fiscal austerity in Brazil, given the recent upsurge in liberal-orthodox policies
and their repercussions for the welfare state. The study explores who these actors and institutions
are, how they act, how they are organized, and who trains or finances them. The main objective is
to unveil how the ideas in defense of fiscal constriction were formulated and disseminated, starting
after the first term (2003-2006) of President Lula da Siva’s government (2003-2010), when
developmentalist policies replaced the neoliberal convention. The ideas of fiscal constriction were
intensified during the government of President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), and gained characteristics
of a unified proposal, materialized in the austerity program Uma Ponte para o Futuro
(2015) (a bridge to the future). After President Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016, policy-makers in
the government President Michel Temer and his successor Jair Bolsonaro rapidly put forward the
austerity program. The epistemic communities of fiscal austerity argue that the public policies
outlined in the 1988 Brazilian Constitution are the main cause of the increase in spending on welfare,
the accelerated growth of public debt, and the probable insolvency of the country.